Faded Memories and the Hidden Truth
by Illusion137
Summary: Why? Why didn't Mikan see him for so many years? Or the rather question would be: why wasn't she allowed to see him ever again?
1. The Truth behind Her Eyes

**Disclaimer: **I do _not_ own Gakuen Alice! I'm just an innocent fan like you...

**Dedication: **I started writing this story a month ago but there is a reason why I'm publishing it today. It's the birthday of my friend **bienenstich**. She was also the one who introduced the world of fanfiction to me and I really appreciate it. Hence, this story is for you, Bine-sempai - HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :)

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><p><strong>Chapter 1:<strong>_** The Truth behind Her Eyes**_

It had been eleven years since Mikan Sakura got to see her childhood friend. Eleven long, desolate years. Because eleven years ago, not only had she lost her best, but also her one and only friend. The other kids had always ignored the naïve brunette and strangely enough, they had shivered and retreated each time when she had tried to talk to them. But she had never cared much about it because _he _had always been by her side. In addition, Mikan had preferred one true and reliable friend to much half-hearted amities. Thus, that single friend had become her most important person day-to-day.

And then, that important person had mysteriously disappeared from her life all of a sudden. Neither had she known the reason why he left, nor his whereabouts after that day. The only thing she had remembered was that she had cried very hard back then…

Mikan was 16 years old now and had a normal and cheerful life like most high school students. Meanwhile, she made many trustworthy friends and was on good terms with them. However, she had never been given _him _up.

She had always been in search of her childhood friend. Even though so many years passed, she couldn't forget him. Even though she had so many friends around her and wasn't so lonely anymore, there was always a strange feeling that something was missing: a very important part of herself, which she had lost eleven years ago. That important part, she gad to find now, no matter what.

Therefore, she even signed on different social networking websites although she had never been interested in online chatting. From Mikan's point of view, it was more pleasant to talk to each other face-to-face so that you could transmit your thoughts and feelings to your counterpart in a comprehensible way instead of illustrating your current mood with a smiley. On top of that, you were never fully secured against hackers or viruses so anybody could hear about your conversations.

But in order to find the tiniest track that could lead her to _him_, she was ready to abandon her prejudices on the internet. The problem was that she had no clue for whom she was looking for. She couldn't even remember the name of her friend or how he looks like right now as if all her memories had been taken from her. Anyway, she couldn't resist the urge to see him again and she was intent on finding him.

It was lunchtime at Alice High School but Mikan couldn't handle her growling stomach right now. Her life depended on more important things to do.

"Hey Mikan, why are you in a hurry? Aren't you going to eat with us?" asked Nonoko, Mikan's blue-haired chemist friend.

"Can't talk now, see you later." yelled Mikan and left like a hurricane as fast as never before.

"What's up with her? She looked so pale and worried." wondered Nonoko.

Her companion Anna looked as confused as the latter. "That's really weird. She has never skipped having lunch with us for the last two years. I hope that everything is alright."

"Let's keep some of your delicious cookies for her. For the case that she'll join us later." proposed Nonoko, eating one of the cookies herself.

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><p>Mikan slammed the door of the last classroom on the top floor. Nevertheless, her searching was in vain.<p>

"No, no, no! How could I lose it? I've never taken it off once during PE, so how could this happen?"

Panting heavily, she leaned against the wall and tried to reconstruct her routine of the day.

"Calm down, Mikan. Calm down and think about your actions from earlier. The only place left, where I haven't searched yet, is the laboratory. Otherwise, I've sift through everywhere. _But what if it's not there either?"_

Powerlessly, she dropped to her knees and could feel tears rolling down her cheeks. Then, she heard a child's voice in her head calling for her but the voice was very low coming from far away. Though, she knew only too well to whom it belonged. It was the voice of her childhood friend, whom she longed to see. In desperation, she replied softly.

"_What are you still waiting for? Why aren't you coming to me? Do you even remember me? Or are you laughing at a stupid girl who is looking for a ghost in her memories?"_

The next moment, she felt a strong hand resting on her shoulder. It was as strong as an iron grip but still holding back at the same time in order to not hurt her. When Mikan turned around, she noticed that there was no one far and wide. But she could still feel the gentle warmth of that hand on her shoulder. Immediately, she stood up and wiped her tears away.

"_What a fool I am. Am I still going to cry like a little girl when I find you? _It doesn't matter whether you have forgotten me or not. I'll just have to remind you of me." Filled with hope and encouraged anew, she left the spot and ran towards the laboratory.

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><p>She reached the lab within a few seconds. Fortunately, nobody seemed to be there at the moment since she was not allowed to enter the lab beyond her chemistry classes. Only people with a special permission like her friend Nonoko could but it'd take too long to pick her up to get access to the lab now. Furthermore, Mikan didn't want to disturb her during lunchtime.<p>

Therefore, Mikan had to depend on herself for now and finish her job quickly. Even at the cost of being caught and ruining her good student image, she needed to get her talisman back.

As she was creeping under the desks, Mikan heard an angered and monotonous voice coming from the door. "What the hell are _you _doing here?"

It was a simple question but sounded like a low threat coming out of her mouth. Mikan recognized the intruder at once and tried to get on her feet, only to fail and clumsily hit her head against the desk. She cursed quietly under her breath and stood up straight on her second attempt. Rubbing smoothly the back of her head, her eyes met the violet ones of Hotaru, who looked anything but happy about the intruder.

"Ouch, thanks for the lump!" hissed Mikan in pain.

"Wrong answer." said Hotaru coolly with her eyes darted on Mikan after closing the door behind her.

Ignoring Hotaru's pissed mood, Mikan went on with her search. "I've lost something very important to me and I have to find it before the bell rings."

Something was wrong with that idiot. Hotaru could sense that even without looking at her. She knew Mikan for only three years now but she became acquainted with her really fast. Well, she didn't know anything about her past or her family but she was able to see the kind hearted, cheerful and optimistic personality of that girl. They had met on their first day of middle school, when Hotaru had been sitting lonely on a bench and working on her mini camera in the size of a pen. She had moved with her parents to Tokyo currently and had been ignored by other students. But she had preferred the loneliness to work better on her inventions rather than having a bunch of clingy and curious people around her. That aside, her current dull mood and grim face had also accounted for her isolation in school.

Then, all of a sudden, a girl with brown hair and brown eyes, not taller than herself, had come to her. She had had an interested look in her eyes and had given Hotaru a natural smile, as bright as if she could brighten up the darkest place in world and let every ice turn into clear and clean water. "Is it also your first day here? I guess everyone is treated the same when you're the newbie in school." the girl had stated. At that moment, she had known that Mikan was a special person who'd play an important role in her life. They had started to talk about her inventions, books they had already read, about hobbies and other stuff. However, they had never talked about their past before they had met since Mikan seemed to be unsettled by that topic. Besides, Hotaru hadn't cared about Mikan's past or family. Of course, everybody had a right to have secrets. Moreover, as long as she got along with Mikan, who fined her day, the present counted.

But at present, Mikan wasn't like her usual self. She was behaving like a tortoise, which was desperately looking for its shell, as if her life depended on it.

Hotaru reached her pocket and fetched its content. "Is it this what you're looking for?" Mikan didn't believe what she just heard and turned quickly to see Hotaru holding a small silver necklace in her hand.

The moment she saw the familiar pendant, she ran to Hotaru's side and examined it carefully to obviate a mistake. But it was really hers, the small silver necklace with the cute red pendant. "Yes, it really is mine." she said in relief.

Hotaru couldn't understand it. What was so special about a piece of jewellery, which didn't even seem to be of great value? You could only get one or two dollars at the best for selling it. And it wasn't even pretty, rather a childish accessory from an absurd toy box. However, for Mikan, it seemed to have gold value. Hotaru couldn't believe that a high school student was still playing with toys, even if it was Mikan we were talking about. Sure, she sometimes put her hair in those ridiculous pigtails, but she wasn't really on that level to play with _toys_, right?

She tried to erase a crazy thought of Mikan holding a lolly and riding a tricycle, and went to the door. "So if you settled your matter here, could we just leave? I won't forgive you if you even break the smallest test glass here."

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks a lot, Hotaru. You saved my day. Thank you sooo much."

As Hotaru turned around to face Mikan, she only planned to show her one of her brief and rare smiles. Mikan was the only one she smiled to because she was also the one who brightened up her day and made Hotaru smile. Not that Hotaru had a complete heart of flint, but she didn't want to show her soft side to others so that she wouldn't lose her stern face in front of them.

She expected Mikan to give her one of those bone-crushing hugs, which were annoying but somehow enjoyable at the same time. Instead, Mikan's face was red and tears began to build up in front of her eyes. She was really trying hard to hold them back but she could burst into tears each moment. In spite of that, she gave one of her emollient smiles again and seemed to be the happiest person on earth. That was the Mikan who Hotaru had met three years ago. And she was glad that Mikan transformed back to her usual self.

Hotaru didn't know what to say. She slowly walked back to Mikan, grabbed her shoulders and gave her a kind and warm hug. She didn't know the meaning of that necklace but she didn't ask for now. However, she knew that Mikan was really happy right now and the only thing Hotaru could do was to share Mikan's happiness with her. Nevertheless, she felt the urge to say Mikan one thing:

"The more you keep it inside your heart, the more it'll hurt. Mikan, let it out. "She could tell that her next words caught Mikan off guard. Mikan's pulse was speeding up and her body began trembling.

Mikan loosened from the embrace and looked deep in her violet eyes. She wiped the falling tears off of her eyes and avoided further eye contact. "W-what do you m-mean?"

"When I've first met you, I was impressed by your tender smile which warmed each person's heart you've ever met. Anyway, this cheerful side of you is only one thing. No matter how skilled a person is at acting or hiding their true feelings, there is still one part of your body, which will always sell you out. You're smiling and laughing with your lips and mouth, but not with your eyes. Your eyes always have dark clouds in them and show a kind of mysterious sadness which can't be hidden by yourself or interpreted by another person."

Hotaru's curiosity on that necklace was only one thing. More importantly, she really wanted to help her friend Mikan, who seemed to suffer from something. If she only knew what it was, she'd try to find a way to support Mikan.

Again, Hotaru took her by her shoulders and made her look into her eyes. "You won't be happy unless you also smile with your eyes. One day, that gentle smile of yours will be your strongest weapon to defeat your opponents. But you can only do that and smile sincerely if you defeat your sadness. Just let it out, I might help you with your problems."

With a whiny voice and a quiet sob, Mikan asked uncertainly. "Then, what do you propose? How can I defeat it and achieve my goal?"

"How about you stop holding back and have a good cry?" Hotaru whispered touching her face.

At that, Mikan threw herself in her arms and started crying. It was as if all the sadness, all the sorrow and her solitude, which she had to bear for so many years, flowed like poison out of her body. From that day forth, Mikan found her second important friend in her life.

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><p><em>First of all, thanks for reading this story, dear reader. I hope that you enjoyed reading this chapter even if it doesn't contain much tension or action yet. It rather provides an insight into Mikan's life. I promise you all that the next chapter will be more interesting, particularly introducing new (male) characters.<em>

Next chapter:** The Truth behind Her Necklace**


	2. The Truth behind Her Necklace

**Chapter 2: _The Truth behind Her Necklace_**

Mikan and Hotaru were sitting on a bench in the schoolyard. After Mikan had calmed down, they left the laboratory and decided on skipping afternoon classes. She felt much better thanks to Hotaru's gentle words back then but she was still not ready to face her other schoolmates in her current miserable state. In addition, Mikan hadn't the chance to eat yet due to her search operation earlier. And she always was in a bad mood when she didn't get enough sleep or enough food.

After finishing her sandwich, Mikan took a sip of her juice and turned toward her friend. She decided to confide in Hotaru. "So, where should I start?"

"How about starting with the necklace?", proposed Hotaru as she waited patiently for Mikan's story.

Mikan took it out of her pocket and smiled at the thought of it. "It was a present by my best friend. I got it before he left and moved far away with his family without even saying goodbye."

Hotaru waited a few seconds and asked inwardly. "Why did he leave without saying a single word and where is he now?" Then, she reflected on how stupid he had to be to leave an angelic person like Mikan?

Mikan's face saddened and she looked deeply disappointed. "The weird thing is that I don't know either. One day, he mysteriously disappeared from my life as if I'd never met him. Sometimes, I think that he was just a wonderful dream because I have almost no memory of him. Then again, I'm quite sure that this necklace wasn't bought by my parents or grandpa. And I dully remember exchanging presents with him. I'm quite sure that I bought him a necklace, too, which is similar to mine."

That's really weird. How could she have no memory to that person? One would think that Mikan was brainwashed or hypnotized. But Hotaru didn't believe in crap like that.

"So that necklace is the only hint to your friend.", speculated Hotaru after a while. "It'll be difficult to find him that way." She regretted her last words without thinking about Mikan's feelings. Damn, she had to _encourage _her, not _discourage _her.

Mikan looked down as if she was absent and talking to herself. "You're absolutely right. It's impossible to find him. Mom also wouldn't help me finding him and advices against continuing my searching. She acts very odd since Dad passed away years ago. So I've been looking for my childhood friend alone for several years now. But as you said it, I have no idea whom I'm looking for. I can't possibly show my necklace to each guy I meet on the street and ask him 'Do you have a necklace similar to that?' or 'Did you buy me this item eleven years ago?'"

Hotaru thought hard with each cell of her brain. But she didn't come up with something. How could they find a person without any data about him? She cursed angrily in her head. What was her intelligence good for when she couldn't even help a single friend?

But honestly, Hotaru was kind of jealous. She knew that Mikan became her best friend a few hours ago. Well, they didn't say it out loud but in the end, friendship was something you had to feel rather than describing it literally, right? And Mikan was the first person whom she felt such a strong bond with. But Mikan had another person who she called her 'best friend'. Hotaru didn't like the idea that she shared the same title 'best friend' with a guy who left Mikan and didn't deserve her for this reason alone.

"Is this person this special to you?" At this question, Mikan had to quickly look up into Hotaru's eyes and serious expression.

Without another second to wait, Mikan smiled a little and replied certainly. "Yes, he is. I don't know what makes him so special but I need to see for myself and confirm my feelings. Otherwise, he'll follow me like a phantom and I won't be able to sleep properly anymore. _Otherwise, I'll never be complete_. I have to find this person no matter what." she whispered.

"So that's why you turned Nogi down last month.", stated Hotaru approvingly.

Mikan froze. She was surprised and wondered how Hotaru knew about Ruka's confession and Mikan's response to him. But no wonder. It was Hotaru Imai we were talking about and she always had her own methods to find out about the current relationships between students or even teachers, about each single confession, just about everything.

But she didn't quite understand what Hotaru meant with her last words. "E-excuse me?"

"I'm not sure how much a five years old girl knows about love matters but it really sounds like you've fallen for your childhood friend. That's why there isn't place for another guy in your heart."

Mikan felt her heart aching. What if Hotaru was right? "You know the reason why I didn't want that kind of a relationship with Ruka? Well, he seems to be the perfect man. He is good-looking, gentle and caring, has a wealthy family, shares the same love for animals like me and he is on good terms with everybody. But I…I…"

Mikan couldn't hold back her tears now and yelled. "The reason was that I was scared. I've always thought that if I loved another guy, I'd completely forget the rest of my memories of _him. _I-… I might even forget about the existence of this necklace."

Hotaru took her crying friend in her arms and patted her on the head. "So that was the reason all along."

Mikan rested her head on Hotaru's shoulder and sobbed. "I don't even know what to do when I find him. What if he has already forgotten about me? What if he doesn't want to become acquainted with a girl who still clings to her childhood?"

"I'm sure there is a reason to all of this.", Hotaru said and released Mikan to face her. When she stopped crying, Hotaru continued. "Just like you had a reason when you have turned Nogi down, I'm sure that your friend had also a reason for leaving you eleven years ago. Tell me, what did Nogi do after your rejection?"

Mikan answered quietly. "After I told that it had nothing to do with Ruka, he accepted it and said that we'd stay friends anyway."

The answer was quite the same what Hotaru had expected Ruka to say. "You see? That's what you have to do: be patient and wait for him. Once we find your friend, we'll ask him why he left back then. I'm sure he'll come with a proper explanation."

Mikan nodded her head and gleamed at Hotaru's heartening words. "Again, thank you so much, Hotaru."

"Besides,…", added Hotaru, "… I'm also sure that this person has been looking for you all the time." Mikan was astonished and inhaled quickly. Hotaru rested her hand on Mikan's and went on: "If that person had known how you treasured your friendship, he'd also had done so. From what you've told me now, I guess that he feels the same way about your past. Thus, he deserves you and he's worth the trouble." "_I hope he really is.", _came an afterthought of Hotaru, which she let unsaid.

She could see that Mikan's face was softening and she was her usual self again. Mikan gave Hotaru one of her bone-crushing hugs and thanked her again and again.

For once, Hotaru granted Mikan that performance. "I'm sure that you'll definitely meet him again."

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><p>"So, did you find out something?" asked Mikan impatiently on their way to the classroom.<p>

Hotaru held the necklace in her hands and got granular on the small red pendant. Even with the aid of her inventions, she couldn't get a clue about the anonymous friend's identity. "Nary fingerprint."

She gave it back to Mikan who dropped her head pensively. "Well, it looks like a red olive to me. Or a different fruit…" murmured Hotaru.

"Now, that I think of it…" Mikan was cut off by a familiar face who seemed to head to their direction. It was none other than Ruka Nogi followed by the class representative Yuu Tobita.

"Finally, I've found you two." sighed Ruka gladly. "Sakura, Imai, where have you been? You've never been absent during class before."

Mikan stuffed the talisman in her bag not until Ruka caught a glimpse of it. "I'm sorry for troubling you, Ruka. I wasn't feeling well so Hotaru was so kind to go for a blow with me." Looking at Hotaru's face, Mikan smiled and turned to the to boys. "It helped me a lot and I'm feeling better now."

Tobita made certain that Mikan was fine for now. "Well, I'm leaving them in your care, Ruka. I need to report that both of them returned. Mikan, you'll just talk to Mr. Narumi later. He was worried sick, you know. Get well soon." With that said, he left the three of them.

"Thank you, class rep." Mikan waved to him and turned to Ruka then. She didn't know that he was already standing next to her. When Ruka lifted his hand to gently touch her forehead, she faintly flushed and her eyes widened. She could feel that Ruka hesitated and shook a little bit.

"Are you really alright, Sakura? You have a light fever and should rest a little bit." sated Ruka with a worried expression on his face.

If it was another person, Mikan wouldn't take the diagnosis seriously. But Ruka, as a future veterinarian, he surely knew what he was talking about. Anyway, she was deranged how the other students gawked at them. She took Ruka's hand from her head and put it blandly away. "Don't worry, Ruka. I'm really fine. It's just that I didn't eat properly today."

The crowd around became bigger and bigger. They weren't worried about Mikan's absence during class though, but they talked about the Mikan-Ruka couple while Mikan earned some furious glares from other girls who still hadn't the chance to confess to Ruka.

Then, all of a sudden, there was a loud bang heard everywhere on the schoolyard. Everyone looked at the source of it finding an annoyed Hotaru Imai with a gun in her hand pointed skyward.

"It's ten times louder than a normal pistol to only distract people. But it's also ten times more painful. So get out of the way." Hotaru menaced lowly. Nobody dared to tax Hotaru's patience or test her inventions. Within five seconds, the crowd was almost dissolved so that Hotaru, Mikan and Ruka could get into the building.

"Couldn't you warn us beforehand, Imai? I can't get this tone out of my head." complained Ruka in an amused tone.

"What's the use if you can't affect everyone with it?" hissed Hotaru uninflected.

Mikan was still holding her ears. "Well, I could use it as an alarm bell."

"I wanted to talk to you as long as I can still hear my own voice." laughed Ruka. "My best friend is going to transfer to our school and he'll arrive by train tomorrow. He'll come by plane from France and have a stopover at Osaka first. And he's accompanied by another friend of us but she's still not sure whether to stay here or return. Would you like to hang out with us? I don't want the girl getting bored with only two men by her side."

"I guess that wouldn't be a problem for her." said Hotaru teasingly.

Ruka knew that he couldn't fool Hotaru Imai. "Ok, let me have a second try then: it's been a while since I've seen my friend and I'd like to talk to him without a clingy girl walking between us. Would you please come with me and show her our pretty Tokyo to distract her?" winked Ruka with a handsome smile. He phrased it exaggerated but was honest though.

"You're talking as if your friend already knows our town." replied Hotaru fetching a can of pudding out of her bag.

"You're as sharp as ever, Imai." grinned Ruka. "My friend was born here in Japan but he had to leave due to family matters. So he has lived for over ten years in France. Nonetheless, he plans to study here in future and has to attend a high school for at least one year."

"And what about your other friend? I mean the girl who's never been in Japan before." asked Mikan with a curious look in her face.

"Well, you can't call her 'friend' like you and Imai." explained Ruka. "We've met that French girl on the day, when my friend came to France for the first time. She was so excited and said that she had never met Japanese people before. Though, for myself, I'm only half Japanese and half French, as you already know. Anyway, she followed us everywhere from that day forth. She transferred to our school, started learning Japanese and even changed her name to a Japanese one."

Hotaru collected the facts and summarized. "Briefly, you want us to take care of a crazy, clingy and annoying kitten while you can enjoy your free time with your friend. 200 dollars."

"Hotaru, Ruka is only asking us for a favour." shrieked Mikan.

"Plus he'll pay for food and sightseeing. That's a deal." added Hotaru with an evil look.

"I guess I have no other choice, right? I'll accept before you increase your demands." answered Ruka sweat dropped and paid Hotaru in advance. "The fact is, annoying or not, I feel somehow responsible for that girl. I don't want just any random people to take care of her. I think you two would be the most fitting whom I can really trust."

"Just leave it to us." smiled Mikan in her usual cheerful way. "I know it's hard when you come to a new school as a stranger. It takes a while until you'll be accepted by everyone here. I've experienced it myself. So I'd take care of both of your friends because Hotaru and you'd be busy with your extra classes in physics or chemistry."

"Is this really fine with you, Sakura? I've only asked you for one day and I can't afford to ask Imai twice." he said in a half-serious tone.

"Sure, I only must work once a week at the cafe and will be the less busy one of us. And I still owe you one for helping me with maths. Besides, Ruka's friends are my friends, too, right?" winked Mikan.

"Right. Thanks a lot to the both of you." bowed Ruka to show his gratitude. "I'll meet you at 10 o'clock at the station then."

With this settled, the three of them returned to class. Mikan wondered what kind of a guy Ruka's friend might be. Probably as nice and polite as him…

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><p>The next day, Mikan overslept since she studied till late night the day before. She wanted to have a lot of time to spend with Hotaru, Ruka and his friends. It was 10 minutes to 10 and she could barely manage to be on time. She was sitting in the bus right now and called Ruka on his mobile. She noticed that the latter tried already calling her ten times before.<p>

"_Mikan, where have you been? We've been waiting for hours. Didn't we decide on having breakfast together before we head to the station?"_

"I'm really sorry, Ruka. I don't know what to say. Is Hotaru with you?"

"_Yeah, and she doesn't look too happy about your delay."_

Mikan gulped and the thought of Hotaru's possible pissed face right now. "Well, let me explain it…"

"_It's alright, you can tell us later. But we don't have the time for that now. Where are you ?"_

"I'm heading to the station right now. So I'll be there in about 15 minutes. Are you already there?"

"_No, we had to change our plans."_

Mikan blinked surprised. "Change plans?"

"_Yeah, my friend tricked Shouda, the clingy girl. They planned to go to Osaka by plane and arrive by train in Tokyo. But he fooled her that it'd be better to fly directly to Tokyo. Therefore, they ended up on different planes. So Shouda is waiting at the airport now an he will arrive by train at 10am. He said he'd be alright and we should pick up Shouda. But since your already on the way, would you greet my friend? His name is… You can find him easily since he stands out too much with his raven hair and …"_

"Hello? Ruka, I can't understand you. What was the name? Ruka?" Mikan had a look at her mobile and noticed that the battery ran out. "Great, I have to look for a guy with black hair and around my age in Japan. And I don't even know his name." Somehow, the situation seemed to be very familiar to her…

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><p>When Mikan arrived at the station, she was lucky. The train from Osaka was behind schedule so she could be sure that Ruka's friend was still at the station.<p>

However, Mikan had no idea what to do next. There she was, in front of a crowd with at least one-third of them being male, dark haired and about the same age as her. But when you had a closer look, the crowd was getting smaller and smaller by the minute. So she decided to wait more. At the best, there'd only be one raven haired guy standing there in the end. On and off, she tried to guess which of them was Ruka's friend but she always failed.

After a while, Mikan couldn't believe her eyes. God might have heard her plea! The place which was busy a few minutes ago was only occupied by herself and a young man with black hair. He was only a few inches taller than her so he was probably around her age. "Jackpot!" whispered Mikan as she started moving to him.

Ruka's friend stood about ten metres in front of her. His back was turned on Mikan and he didn't react to Mikan's audible steps. He either had to be deaf or he was just ignoring the approaching person behind him since he was upset to wait for half an hour. She guessed on the latter.

Now that she was only three steps behind him, Mikan thought about how she was supposed to greet him. She didn't want to call him 'Ruka's friend'. How about just 'Welcome to Tokyo!' and introducing herself? Did this guy even understand Japanese? What a stupid question! Didn't Ruka mention that he was born here? For God's sake, she found the guy but talking to him was her sole problem now? She shook her head and put on a shy smile. "Uhm, excuse me, please?"

"Hm?" was his single response as he turned over.

As soon as she saw him into the eyes, the colour she met let her just stand stunned and in awe there. It was as if a lightning hit her directly on the head. Was it because of the unusual colour of his ruby eyes? Or was it the dark shiver within them and his expression, which she couldn't identify?

"Are you going to stand in this position the whole day?" he asked in a husky and annoyed tone.

Mikan's vision blurred and she felt dizzy. She almost fainted before a strong hand could get a hold on her arm.

"Hey, if you don't get a rip on yourself, I'll let you fall." He sounded more serious than concerned.

She still couldn't believe it. How is it that this stranger seemed to be so familiar to her? Mikan didn't know that she wasn't standing on her own feet right now. She was only held by that strong grip on her upper arm. Her mind went blank and she could barely hear her own voice. She lifted her free arm unconsciously which landed on his cheek and smiled. "Natsume? Is this really you?"

Her last words really surprised him. His eyes opened wide and he swung his free arm around her waist to give her a better support. He opened his mouth to say something but Mikan was slowly closing her eyes without hearing the stranger calling out her name.

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><p><em>I hope that you liked the story so far. If not... I'd like to hear about your ideas for improvement. :) Just give me a short feedback so that I can improve my own writing skills. It'd be a great help for me and for my forthcoming stories. Thank you in advance, dear reader...<em>

Next chapter: **The Truth behind the Stranger**


	3. The Truth behind the Stranger

**Dedication: **I want to thank **IndigoGrapefruit**, who supports this story and encourages me to keep on writing _FMATHT_. This chapter goes for you. :)

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: <em>The Truth behind the Stranger<em>**

Hotaru, Ruka and Sumire were in a hurry. Hotaru got a call that her friend Mikan fainted and was brought to hospital recently. It was quite a shock for Hotaru and Ruka since Mikan seemed to be the healthiest person in world and did never get sick until now. They still couldn't believe that Mikan of all people was hospitalized. Without asking about further details, they caught a taxi and headed to the said direction.

When they arrived there, they asked the first nurse they met about her health. "You don't need to worry about her. Miss Sakura only needs to rest a little bit. I guess that she has just overworked for the past few days. Please make sure that she gets enough sleep and stays off of stress." explained the nurse.

Sumire was glad that it was nothing serious though she didn't know that Sakura person. But as she saw how worried Ruka and the Imai girl were, she thought that Sakura had to be a very good friend of them.

Even the usually emotionless Hotaru gave a little sigh and returned to her blank expression afterwards. She was relieved after hearing the nurse's explanation but she wanted to see Mikan herself to be dead certain. Ruka faced her just at the right moment to catch a glimpse of a rolling drop on her face. He couldn't say whether it was a drop of sweat or if the ruthless Hotaru Imai cried.

He rested his hand lightly on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Imai. You've heard what the nurse said. Sakura will be standing on her own feet in no time."

In response to his caring gesture, Hotaru shot him a louring glare as if she was Medusa in person. "What do you think you're doing, Nogi? Let go of me or you'll never be able to use your fingers ever again in further life."

When he noticed how deadly serious she was, Ruka pulled back his hand and stiffened as if he was already turning into stone. Sumire, who was just standing there in silence, could only gulp heavily. She learned really fast to respect Hotaru Imai since she landed at Japan.

Ruka turned quickly to the nurse to forget the thought about his fingers being crushed one after the other. "S-so, where is Sakura now? Can we see her?"

The nurse smiled politely. "Sure, you can. But she might be still asleep. Here, it's the second room on the right. Please, make sure that you thank the young man by her side. It was he who carried your friend all the way here after all. He was also the one who gave us your number so that we could let you know about your friend's whereabouts."

"W-what? There is a stranger in Sakura's room?" asked Ruka who was somehow disordered by this.

"That reminds me of another _stranger_, right Nogi?" mentioned Hotaru without looking at him.

It didn't take Ruka long to understand what she meant by that. A questionable Sumire looked at him when he nearly yelled. "Oh no, I totally forgot to call Natsume. He may still wait at the station." He didn't want his best friend to wait for nothing there on his first day.

"Shhht! Don't worry. I'm sure that Natsume is already sitting in an expensive hotel and drinking a cup of coffee." Sumire waved her hand in air to show how uninterested she was. She was still frustrated about Natsume's rude 'joke' by a last-minute change of flights.

"You have a point there. It's not his first time here at Tokyo after all and he knows the addressee of your hotel. I'll call him later after visiting Mikan." agreed Ruka.

* * *

><p>The nurse opened the door and the group urged to look after Mikan on the one hand. On the other hand, they wanted to know who her mysterious saviour was. They didn't know what they expected to find in the room but it was definitely not that kind of situation.<p>

Mikan was lying in a bed and the stranger who they could only see from behind was sitting next to the bed. He was leaning forward in Mikan's direction, his elbows resting on the bed. One of his hands was resting on hers and with the other one, he was stroking her temple in a tender way. He didn't even seem to realize that the other three entered the room with the nurse.

The nurse made a step forward and asked about the condition of the patient.

"She's still sleeping and didn't even move a muscle. Is this what you call a _normal state_?" asked the stranger in a frustrated way.

Ruka and Sumire had to blink twice at this because they had a good guess who the owner of that annoyed voice was. "Natsume?" asked Ruka in astonishment.

When Natsume could identify Ruka's voice, he immediately let go of Mikan's hand and stood up. "Ruka, how did you find me?"

"Well, I'm as surprised as you right now. We were looking for our friend Mikan and found you by chance." explained Ruka.

When Natsume heard Mikan's name, his face softened a little bit. However, it was just for brief moment that only Hotaru could see it.

"So it's really _her _after all…" murmured Natsume as he darted his eyes on Mikan's figure again.

"What do you mean?" asked a sceptical Hotaru, arching a brow.

Natsume had a quick look on the raven-haired girl and closed his eyes as he started to explain. "Well, it's not that normal when a girl sneaks off to you first and faints the other second without even having a proper conversation. It's really she who was supposed to pick me up. Couldn't you send a healthier friend of yours, Ruka?"

Hotaru left her face stoic. She thought that his comment from earlier had a different meaning. That Natsume person was by Mikan's side all along and cared for her like a protecting mother and now, he called her just a sick friend of Ruka? Something was wrong with that person. What was he hiding?

"Don't be so mean, dude." Ruka punched him lightly on the elbow. "Normally, Mikan is an energetic and cheerful person but she wasn't feeling good recently. Just wait until I introduce her to you and you'll like her the next day." He looked at Mikan's sleeping face. "You know, everyone likes being friends with her. She has an odd skill to make friends with even the coldest person of all." He quickly looked at Hotaru, who wasn't impressed the slightest, and then turned back to Natsume.

The latter didn't seem to be listening and observed the still sleeping Mikan. "We'll see…"

* * *

><p>One hour had passed since Ruka and his group arrived at the hospital. In the meantime, Hotaru accompanied Sumire to her hotel. It wasn't Sumire's duty to wait until Mikan woke up after all. In addition, she still needed to rest after her flight from France.<p>

Actually, it was Ruka's job to drive the French girl to her hotel. However, Natsume insisted on staying at the hospital until Mikan regained consciousness. Ruka couldn't understand what his best friend was thinking but he knew how stubborn Natsume could be. He had no other choice than convince Hotaru to change places and let him take care of Mikan. Though, it wasn't easy to obtain her confidence and Ruka had to _buy _it in the end.

Sure, Ruka could still leave Natsume and Hotaru by Mikan's side and take care of Sumire himself. Nevertheless, Ruka wanted to know the reason for Natsume's strange behaviour. What happened before they came to the hospital? Moreover, why was his best friend worried about Mikan Sakura, who was a stranger to him, so much?

Ruka took a seat beside Natsume, who didn't turn his gaze from Mikan even for a second. He looked at the same direction as his best friend. Each time, when the two had a conversation, they did it without any eye contact because they knew what the other one was thinking or feeling at the moment. After all, they had been close friends for almost ten years.

However, it was different this time. Ruka couldn't read his friend like an open book and Natsume didn't even seem to be aware of Ruka's presence at the moment.

Ruka decided to start with a small talk before he dropped the bomb and attacked his opponent with a mass of questions. "How was your journey?"

Natsume was lost in thoughts and gave only short answers. "Fine."

"Shouda was quite angry at you."

"Whatever."

"Did you visit Kaoru-san?"

"Yeah."

When Ruka wanted to ask the next question, they heard a low grunt and the rustle of the bed sheets. Before he could even react, Natsume stood up immediately and had a closer look on the girl. But Mikan was still sleeping and didn't wake up. Natsume exhaled the breath he was holding and quietly returned to his seat.

While Ruka observed every movement of his friend, he decided to ask him directly since he couldn't hold back his curiosity anymore. He faced Natsume and asked: "Where did you meet her for the first time, Natsume?"

Somehow, Ruka could see that Natsume was expecting that question. There was no sign of surprise under his friend's calm façade. Natsume closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face.

He replied in a low voice, hardly audible to Ruka. "I don't know."

It's been a while since Ruka saw Natsume in that state. Even if Natsume had a strong personality and stamina, there were times like this when he showed his worn out side only to Ruka. However, Ruka always hated this side of his friend because he had never been able to help him. The only thing Ruka could do was to listen to his problems.

"Are you alright?" asked Ruka since he seldom saw Natsume so exhausted and weary.

"Yeah, don't worry, Ruka. It's only one of those migraines again. I didn't get enough sleep last night."

"Only a migraine? You know what the doctor said. Don't underestimate your condition, Natsume! Otherwise, you will…" yelled Ruka.

"Ruka!" Natsume shouted at him in the heat of the moment. Ruka's worried face let his frown fade away. He calmed down and inhaled deeply. There was silence in the room for a while.

Natsume opened his mouth to say something but stopped. When he stood up and fixed his eyes on the girl again, Ruka turned his gaze to the same direction. It was Mikan resting her hand on her temple and murmuring something, who caught their attention.

Finally, the sleeping beauty was waking up.

* * *

><p>Next chapter: <strong>The Truth behind His Name<strong>


	4. The Truth behind His Name

**Chapter 4: _The Truth behind His Name_**

Mikan's head was spinning. She tried to open her eyes but the light surrounding her was too bright, so she let them shut. Instead, she relied on her other senses. The first thing she noticed was that it smelled somehow…healthy. Like medicaments. She had to be in the hospital then. The place she hated the most, where she had seen her father's face for the last time in her life before he died. Back then, Mikan was too young, only two years old, to understand the meaning of death. But seeing her mother's sad face day after day, she had noticed soon that her father would never return to them…

And why was Mikan in a hospital right now? Was someone sick and hospitalized? Oh no, was it her mother this time? She wasn't able to abide her mother's death, too. Her head started to ache more now. She had to look for her mother as soon as possible.

"Sakura?"

There was male voice that sounded a little bit worried. Whose voice was it? It was familiar to her but she didn't think of who he was. On the other side, there weren't too many people calling her by her last name.

"Mikan."

What was that? The second voice also belonged to a male person, but other that the first one, she heard it for the first time in her life. It was a low whisper but sounded like an order to her to wake up. It was a strange feeling but pleasant at the same time. Additionally, the oddest thing was that all the pain in her head and other parts of her paralyzed body was blown away by only hearing her name out of this person's mouth.

Mikan snapped her eyes open and adjusted herself to a sitting position so fast as if she woke up from a nightmare. "What…" She looked around the room and darted her gaze on the first familiar person she saw. "Ruka?"

The blonde boy was glad that she recognized him. "Thanks to God, how do you feel?"

She saw that Ruka relaxed a little bit. She blinked in confusion and noticed that she was sitting on a bed. Finally, she realized that _she _was the person who was hospitalized. Mikan was relieved that it had nothing to do with her mother. But the next question was, _why was she herself hospitalized?_

Mikan closed her eyes and felt her forehead. She tried to think hard but had no memory of what happened earlier. Her head began to ache again. "Ruka, why are we here?"

"Don't you remember? You were supposed to pick up Natsume from the station but you collapsed there. He was the one who brought you to the hospital." explained Ruka briefly.

"Nat-…sume?" repeated Mikan. She couldn't associate anything with that name. "Who is that supposed to be?"

"Didn't I tell you before? Natsume Hyuuga is my best friend, who came from France to Tokyo this morning." Ruka pointed at his friend next to him.

She tried to recapitulate the last few hours. "Wait… I went to the station and saw that dark-haired guy…" She looked at the second person in the room.

Mikan always thought that Ruka would be the most handsome man in their school or in Japan. However, the newcomer surpassed him by far and might even be the best-looking man in world! The first thing she realized was that this Natsume Hyuuga was taller than she was. She could barely remember making that observation at the station before. But oddly enough, she had no further memories about what happened there earlier.

So she continued observing Ruka's friend. Travelling her gaze from the bottom up, she noticed how neatly he was dressed. With his black sneakers, dark jeans and blue shirt, Mikan concluded that he favoured dark colours, which really suited him. Even if he wore loose clothes, it was obvious that he had a well-trained body. She could guess that due to his wide shoulders and strong arms. No wonder that he could carry her all the way to the hospital…

"Oh no, that's right. I couldn't even thank you for your help yet." remarked an outraged Mikan. She thought that it was unsuitable to sit lazily on the bed although she was feeling better now. On the one hand, she didn't want the two guys to wait for her any longer and on the other hand, she had to thank her saviour properly. She intended to stand up and bow to him to show her gratitude. Putting the blanket aside, she landed her feet on the ground. Before standing up, she faced the raven-haired boy and smiled. "Sorry for making you troubles, Nats…"

Mikan held her breath. Something was wrong. His name was on the tip of her tongue but wouldn't come out of her mouth. Somehow, it didn't seem to be right to call him that way. But why? Was there another Natsume in her life? Somebody, who was defined to be her only Natsume? Nevertheless, she didn't know another person with this name, right? The more she thought about it, the more she could feel the pain increasing in her head.

As she saw the two boys with the same worried expression, she quickly put a fake smile on her lips to hide her pain. Immediately, she tried to change the topic. "By the while, why are we still talking here? Let's go out and finish the introduction while having a coffee. I know a beautiful place…"

Suddenly, Mikan was interrupted mid-sentence. All she could see was a shadow before she closed her eyes protectively. Then, somebody grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her quickly, but gently back to the bed.

"Natsume, what are you doing?" protested Ruka anxiously.

When she heard Ruka's voice, Mikan slowly opened her eyes and looked directly into red eyes. Those eyes and the unusual colour were somewhat scary and captivated her. However, watching them from a tiny distance now, she could see a mix of different emotions. There were fear, concern, sorrow and many others that she couldn't identify. He was looking exhausted but longingly at the same time. Her heart warmed up and she recognized that feeling. It was the same at the station, when she met this Natsume guy for the first time. Just who the hell was he?

"Who are you kidding?" Mikan realized that this husky voice belonged to the person above her and blinked in confusion.

She tried to swallow the lump in her throat. "W-what do you mean, Na… H-Hyuuga?" she asked while her heart started beating rapidly. For a brief moment, she could detect a hint of disappointment in his eyes. Did she say something wrong?

"You're not fit enough to leave yet. You need to rest more." he stated.

"E-excuse me?" Mikan was surprised and scandalized. She tried to repress the agreeable feeling from earlier and looked away from his eyes. "I- I'm perfectly fine. Would you please step aside and let me move? I… I have to inform my family about my whereabouts."

"If that's all you need…" said Hyuuga, annoyed. He turned to his friend then. "Ruka, go and notify her family that their daughter will be late because she's hanging out with her friends. You can also inform Medusa that her friend has waken up."

"M-Medusa?" wondered Ruka, who was silent during the controversy of the two. He nodded understandingly to Hyuuga and turned to Mikan before he left. "Sakura, I guess Natsume is right. At least, we should let the doctor check up on you one last time. Please, stay here until I get Imai. I'll also talk to your mother so you may rest assured." He smiled gently at her and left the room not until looking one last time at his friend.

* * *

><p>It had been half an hour since Ruka left. Meanwhile, the nurse took a blood sample, which forced Mikan to wait another hour. She didn't oppose to Hyuuga and lied down on the bed again. It was still a mystery for her how he could see through her pain before. This guy had to be as foxy as Hotaru at the least. After all, Hotaru was the only person who could ever see through Mikan's true feelings so far.<p>

Mikan ignored her roommate at the moment. In fact, she didn't want to be rude to Ruka's friend but the girl just hated being commanded by other people, including her own mother.

Mainly, she was on good terms with her mother and they had an exemplary mother-daughter relationship. Eventually, they had to rely on each other after her father's death. There was only one time when the two of them had a huge conflict. Back then, Mikan had asked her mother about her childhood friend and told her that she'd like to see him again.

However, her mother had been absolutely against it and unsuccessfully tried to prevent Mikan from looking for her friend. After that dispute, they hadn't talked to each other for several days but they had reconciled on her dead father's birthday. In the end, Mikan had never talked to her mother about her friend again and continued the searching secretly.

That reminded her that she hadn't checked her mails for two days now. What if her friend had already contacted her? Since she was only waiting for the results of her check-up, she had plenty of time to check her mails via her mobile phone. Mikan was still feeling dizzy because of the blood withdrawal and couldn't get up. Besides, her 'bodyguard' wouldn't allow her to stand up right now.

She looked at him from the corner of her eyes and saw him looking out of the window. He seemed to be in a brown study. She turned her head to face him and asked hesitatingly. "Uhm, Hyuuga?"

"Natsume is fine." he replied, not turning his gaze from outside.

Mikan brushed off his last statement. She still felt uneasy to call him by his first name. "Well, could you please pass me on my mobile?"

"I _could_." he answered nonchalantly.

"So? Would you be so kind to…?"

Hyuuga shifted to face her. "What do you need a mobile for in your current condition? You can barely sit after losing half of your blood."

"What?" Mikan flipped out after hearing the last sentence. "I wasn't attacked by a vampire, Hyuuga. I only gave blood for a test."

He didn't answer to that and turned his gaze to the window again.

Mikan pouted formally. However, she didn't admit defeat so easily. She rolled her eyes and was in the process of standing up. "Fine, if you don't help me, then I'll have to get it myself."

"Don't!" After hearing his firm command, she stopped. Mikan knew what was coming next and grinned inwardly. She hid the smug expression on her face when Hyuuga fetched her mobile and handed it to her.

"Thank you, Hyuuga." she smiled.

"Tsk, as stubborn as ever." he murmured under his breath.

"Hm? What was that?" asked Mikan, who was currently distracted by her mobile, while turning it on. She checked her mails for the last two days but unfortunately, she didn't receive even one. Her disappointment could be read on her sad and thoughtful face. Thereby, something crossed her mind. "Wait, my battery ran out earlier, right? Why can I activate my mobile now?"

"I gave you mine."

"You did…?" blinked Mikan in confusion.

"I switched the batteries. I needed to contact your friends so that they could pick you up. Since the doctor said that it's nothing serious, I didn't call your mother and selected a random name on the list."

"You fumbled around my mobile?" asked a horrified Mikan. Nonetheless, she couldn't change that fact now and sighed. "Well, in the end, you had a good intention, right?" She checked her mails a second time without success.

"Is it that important to you?" asked Hyuuga after a while.

"Pardon?" Mikan wondered what he meant by that. It was not until then that she noticed Hyuuga watching her for the last few minutes. Blushing lightly, she looked away and asked again. "W-what do you mean?"

"The message you're expecting, is it that important to you?" he repeated slowly. "It's been just about an hour since you've waken up and the first thing you do is checking your mails?"

Without hesitation, Mikan faced him and answered deadly serious: "It is! Very important."

There was a moment of silence. Hyuuga observed the confident girl in front of him before he turned away from her and broke the silence. "Guess your boyfriend hasn't time to mail you yet. How pathetic, having a stubborn girlfriend like you…"

Mikan couldn't believe what she just heard and her head snapped. "You…called me stubborn? Again?" She stood up and closed the distance between them. Her blood pleasure rose so much that there wasn't any sign of her dizziness anymore. She pointed a finger at him and started yelling. "How can you call me stubborn if you don't even know me? We've just met this morning! Do you always judge people so fast?"

Hyuuga just stood there and didn't reply. He closed his eyes and didn't even seem to listen to her. Mikan noticed that and grabbed him by his arm to make him face her again. When he turned his head to her direction, she continued: "What did I do to make you believe that I'm so stubborn? Tell me, Hyuuga!"

"All right, then tell me just one thing." he stated calmly. He opened his crimson eyes and looked deep in hers. With the same seriousness as her, he asked: "Why don't you call me by my first name?"

Mikan held her breath and her eyes opened widely. What was the feeling that made her heart beat so rapidly? This same feeling as before…as if he could see through her.

While Hyuuga made a step forward and entirely closed the distance between them, Mikan could just stand there and stayed voiceless. He grabbed her chin and made her look more intensely in his eyes. "See? You even refuse to answer to a simple question like this, you stubborn girl."

Mikan was put under his spell so that she hadn't even the strength to argue with him. The heat which was arising out of his sole touch was coming up to her cheeks. She opened her mouth to say something. "I-…"

She was interrupted by the bang of the door. Mikan and Hyuuga looked coevally at the source of the noise to see Hotaru and Ruka standing at the door. Hotaru was her usual self, showing no emotions whereas Ruka stood there with an open mouth, pointing a finger at them.

Ruka gulped heavily before asking: "W-what…are you doing?"

Hotaru sounded more annoyed than surprised. "It seems to me that we came for nothing. She is as fit as a fiddle. Come Nogi, we're only bothering them."

Mikan blinked twice and didn't know what Hotaru was talking about. Then, she looked back at her opposite and understood the meaning of her words. She shrieked and stepped back in horror, loosening from his hold. "W-wait, it's not what y-you think…!"

Hyuuga ran a hand through his hair and went to his friend. "Ruka, we're done here. Let's go."

Ruka, who was still standing under the influence of the current situation, nodded briefly. "See you on Monday, Sakura. Imai." With that said, the two guys dismissed.

Never before was Mikan as dumbfounded as today. She thought about today's events from morning up to now and there was one thing she couldn't understand.

"_How did he know the PIN code of my mobile?" _

* * *

><p><em>So...what do you think so far? Reviews would be appreciated! :)<em>

Next chapter: **The Truth behind His Hatred**


	5. The Truth behind His Hatred

**Chapter 5: _The Truth behind His Hatred_**

It was Sunday and Mikan had to do her part-time job in the café. Today, it wasn't as busy as usual though. Thus, she hoped to finish her work early in the afternoon to pay a visit to Hotaru. They hadn't the chance to talk to each other properly yet, after what happened the day before. After Ruka and Hyuuga had left, Hotaru had insisted that Mikan needed to rest and arranged for a taxi. She had told Mikan to take a day off and relax in the morning so that they could meet in the afternoon.

However, Mikan felt good enough to go to work so there was no reason for her to skip work. Not that she needed the money urgently since her journalist mother gained enough for both of them. Nevertheless, she wanted to put some money aside since nobody knew what the future would bring.

In any case, Mikan really wanted to talk to Hotaru as soon as possible. She had a strange feeling since yesterday and it began when she met Hyuuga for the first time. Mikan had still no memory of what had happened during their confrontation at the station. But she remembered quite well, what had happened at the hospital: That Hyuuga had somehownoticedthat she wasn't feeling good enough to leave the hospital in her former condition. There were so many questions starting with '_How?' _or '_Why?' _in her head, which Hotaru also couldn't answer in all likelihood. Anyway, Mikan just needed to shake them off immediately in order to get a wink of sleep at night.

"_Seriously, what's up with this guy?" _she thought. First, he fooled his friend Shouda and changed flights at the very last moment. And now, this same person would worry about Mikan, a girl who he had never met before? Thinking about him caused her pains in her head again, thus she decided to concentrate on her job for the moment and talk to Hotaru about him later.

Mikan sighed for the hundredth time that day and wanted to bring some dishes away. Suddenly, she bumped into her running co-worker and almost dropped the plates in her hand. But she managed to barely catch them in an artistic way and turned to the other girl. "Watch out, Anna! I can't cover for you a second time this week." shrieked Mikan, surprised and in great efforts to keep her balance. Anna Umenomiya was not only Mikan's schoolmate, but also her colleague. Other than Mikan, Anna was not only just a waitress at the café but she also helped in the kitchen with her first-rate cooking skills. One day, she would become an excellent cook. That's what Mikan believed devoutly.

Anna relieved her of the plates in her hands and put them aside. She had a wide grin on her face and a light blush on her cheeks. Plus, she trembled so much that Mikan thought the girl would explode or take off like a rocket at any moment. Mikan already had a good guess on what was happening.

"Mikan, hurry up! You have to see that!" whispered the over-excited Anna.

"See what? You see that I have to finish my work. I'd like to leave earlier today, you know?" answered Mikan, who was tired und completely uninterested.

"Come on, only a few minutes." insisted Anna. "And you won't regret it. Have a look at him and you'll see what I mean." She pulled at Mikan's arm and dragged her behind the sales counter. "Look, it's the table number one."

Mikan could almost see hearts in the girl's eyes. Probably, she had seen another half-cute, half-macho guy and fell in love with him at first sight. It was always the same disappointment for her though: five minutes later, his girlfriend would arrive, leaving a broken-hearted Anna behind. Jeez, why would girls at her age like to have a boyfriend that much? Fortunately, Hotaru wasn't nuts about men as the other girls.

Actually, Mikan wanted to get over it quickly and address herself to her task. When she looked at the first table in the corner, she realized what Anna meant. Table number one was occupied by a young man with dark hair and sunglasses. Even from that distance, she could tell that he was pretty attractive by only looking briefly at him.

"Uh, it's a raven-haired and light tanned this time. Weren't you interested in brunettes?" blinked Mikan teasingly.

Anna sighed. "No, I gave up on them. You can't find any single brunette or blonde nowadays."

"What about Ruka? Isn't he good enough for you?" proposed Mikan, only half-serious.

"Are you kidding me?" laughed Anna. "Everybody knows that Ruka Nogi has only eyes for you."

Mikan reddened at this. "S-stop talking non-sense. Ruka and I are only good friends." she whispered angrily.

Anna rolled her eyes and waved her hand. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. That's not our problem right now. Let's take care of the _sweetheart _there before a random girl spots him." She darted her eyes on the young man at the corner again. Since he was sitting alone there for a while, Anna estimated that she hit the mark this time. "Here is the plan, Mikan. Additionally to the coffee he ordered, you'll bring him one of my special cupcakes. After trying it, he'll like it sooo much that he'll ask for the person who made it. That's how we'll get to know each other and he'll fall in love with me. Very simple and clever."

To be honest, Mikan liked the plan. Anna's cooking was brilliant after all and she could impress everyone with it. Mikan really wanted to support her friend but she might profit from this opportunity, too. "If I help you out and your plan goes well, will you do my work for an hour and let me go earlier?"

Anna thought for a moment. "Sure, that wouldn't be a problem for me. I'll even bake you your favourite cake if he asks for a date. Deal?"

Without a second thought, Mikan agreed. "All right, leave it to me."

The two girls returned to the kitchen. Anna handed a plate with an espresso and a cupcake over to Mikan. "Good luck and don't get hypnotized when you look him in the eyes." advised Anna. Then, she rushed to the bathroom to prepare herself for the introduction with 'her prince'.

Mikan was stunned. She didn't know what Anna meant with her last comment and started walking towards table number one. On her way, she thought that the plan was still awkward. It'd be much better if Anna talked directly to the guy, right? Mikan wondered if he really would fall for the trick with the cake. It reminded her of a fairy tail, as if they were trying to entrap Hansel with sweeties. However, it wasn't up to her to judge the plan. In order to help her friend, she needed to do her best and wait table number one.

Standing only a few steps away from the table, Mikan had a closer look at the customer. Now, she could absolutely understand Anna's behaviour from before. This guy was just handsome with his light, smooth and perfect tan and a strong formed jaw. She could only see that much of his face but it was enough to fascinate a girl. Wandering her gaze downwards, she saw his skin-tight T-shirt pointing his well-trained body and… "Stop, stop, stop! Stop observing him!" Mikan murmured to herself and shook her head. If she continued gaping at him that way, she would fall for Anna's future boyfriend. At worst, she wouldn't be able to control herself as if it happened in front of Hyuuga yesterday.

Suddenly, she stood rooted to the ground and stiffened right there. Why was she thinking of _Hyuuga _right now? Before she started from scratch about yesterday's incidents anew, Mikan blew off the thought of Hyuuga and went to the customer.

"Sorry for the wait, Sir. Here is your order." She smiled gently and put the espresso and the plate with the heart-shaped cupcake on the table. "Just let me know if you'd like anything else, Sir."

She turned away and was about to go when she felt a strong grip on her left wrist, followed by a firm command. "Wait."

Her eyes opened wide as Mikan couldn't believe what she just heard. "_This voice…It couldn't be…" _Turning slowly towards the customer, she just hoped that she was wrong. "M-may I help you, Sir?"

The customer removed his sunglasses and revealed his crimson eyes. Disappointing to Mikan, it was Hyuuga, who looked quite unimpressed and commented dryly: "If it isn't Ruka's stubborn friend."

The word 'stubborn' reminded her of yesterday's distressing situation at the hospital when Ruka and Hotaru entered her room. Mikan wanted to repress that scene until she resolved the misunderstanding and told Hotaru the truth. More importantly, Hyuuga called her 'stubborn girl' again, which she detested to such an extent. "Don't call me that way. I also have a name, you know?"

Hyuuga arched a brow. "And your name was…?"

It finally sunk in! She was accusing him for not knowing her name, but neither did Mikan introduce herself yet, nor did she thank him for his help back then. She was quite uncomfortable with the current situation and blushed deeply. "I-…I'm sorry about…"

He let go of her and ran a hand through his hair. "Don't force yourself. It's not that I need to know your name here and now."

Mikan conceded in that point to him. After all, she was the waitress and he was her customer. It's not that they needed to be chit-chatty during her work, right? She wanted to sort her work out from her private life, therefore she treated each guest equally. In her opinion, keeping the distance between a customer and herself was the only way to success in gastronomy.

There was a low grunt from the sales counter and Mikan heard somebody quietly coughing. She could see Anna, who was waiting impatiently for her great entrance, from the corner of her eye. Mikan was so carried away by him that she almost forgot about her mission: _pairing Anna off with Hyuuga_. Then again, now that she knew the identity of the customer, she didn't like the idea of Hyuuga being Anna's future boyfriend as a little while ago. She had just… a weird feeling. The thought of Anna and Hyuuga holding hands caused her a pain in the stomach.

Nonetheless, Mikan promised her friend Anna that she'd help her out, even if she somehow regretted it now. Anyway, it was too late to feel remorse now and she had to play along. "Sir, what else can I do for you?" She intentionally avoided eye contact in order to '_not being hypnotized' _a second time.

Hyuuga twitched his brow and looked a little bit irritated by the way she addressed him so formal. He turned his gaze to the sweetie on the table and asked: "What's _that_?"

'_A cake, can't you see it?' _was what Mikan liked to say but for Anna's sake, she had to stay calm. "It's a speciality of our café, Sir: a strawberry-cupcake filled with vanilla cream."

"I didn't order this." he said, quite annoyed.

Mikan tried to ignore his displeased mood and smiled. "I know Sir, but this one's on the house. Enjoy your meal."

"No."

She couldn't believe what she just heard. Arching a brow, she tried hard to keep her smiling face. "P-pardon?"

"I hate strawberries. You can take it back." he replied simply.

"What?" Mikan couldn't contain herself anymore. She gritted her teeth and tried to keep her voice as low as possible. "You didn't even taste it once. I can't just take a served meal back and bring it to the next customer!"

"Then, you'll eat it."

"No, thanks." she replied quickly. "It's not our job to bear the guests company."

"You mistake something, _Miss_. I didn't _ask _you, I _told _you to eat it." he repeated.

Mikan lost her head and looked him in the eyes. "Who are _you _to command me just as you please! Being a customer doesn't mean that I must do anything to entertain you!"

Hyuuga took the cake and stood up. "Fine with me. I have to dispose of it myself then. Where is the bin?"

He really meant it. Mikan could tell this by just looking him in his eyes. It was the same serious expression as in the hospital yesterday. Back then, when he had asked her about his name, came dangerously close to her and… '_No, not that scene again_!' She shook her head to dispel the images out of her head.

It was a case of the biter bit for Mikan. She snatched the cupcake from his hand and sat down in fury, as red as a tomato. "I'm only doing this for the delicious cake!" Actually, she also wanted to avoid an embarrassing position as in the hospital room last time. '_Never again. Not in front of Anna…_' she thought.

The triumphant Hyuuga sat down opposite her with a smug expression. "Good girl." he commented, which made Mikan livid with rage.

Furiously, she took a huge bit of the cake to get over with this as soon as possible. But the more she chewed on it, the more relaxed her features. Her counterpart noticed the sudden change of her mood, too. "Tch, what are you, a child who gets happy with some candies?"

Mikan took her time and swallowed the morsel carefully. She explained enthusiastically: "It's not just a candy, it's Anna's cupcake. It can work miracles. Take a bite and you'll forget about all of your worries."

"Who said that I had any worries anyway?" he said thoughtfully, observing her from the corner of his eye.

"That's not the point, Hyuuga. Just have a try and you'll understand what I mean." she insisted.

"Haven't I already told you that I _hate _strawberries?" he reminded her.

"I don't believe that. Nobody can hate strawberries unless they haven't ever tried them once. Come on, I'll even feed you. So be a good boy and open your mouth…" Mikan leaned on her elbows on the table and stretched her arm to Hyuuga's direction. The latter looked at the small piece of cake in front of him and hesitated for a second. Then, he reached for her hand, leaned forward and took a small bite without losing eye contact with the girl opposite. Her blush deepened and took a tone of cute red.

When she felt the warmth of his hand on hers, her heart started beating rapidly and she slowly pulled back. Her hand started trembling along with her whole body so that she had to put the cake on the table and rested her hands on her lap under the table. She began to rub her hands nervously. "S-so, how is it?" was the only thing she could bring out at the moment.

After swallowing hard, he turned away and sulked. "It's not bad after all…"

Mikan's head snapped at his words. His words echoed in her head as if she had already heard them somewhere else. She hesitated for a second before asking: "Um… could you repeat that, please?"

"Hm?" Hyuuga looked at her with a puzzled expression and repeated. "The cake, it's not bad after all."

Both of them stayed silent for a few seconds. While Mikan was sitting there in deep thoughts, Hyuuga observed her without cease. Her sudden calmness seemed to make him uneasy so he opened his mouth say something.

As Mikan sensed this, she came back to reality and interrupted him. "Y-you like the cake? I can introduce the person who baked them to you. Just wait a moment…" With that said, she stood up and ran towards the kitchen. She perceived that Hyuuga also stoop up and called after her, but she ignored him. For the moment, her mind told her to leave that place instantly and calm down. Primarily, her only intent was to introduce him to Anna, wasn't it? Now that she completed her task, there was no reason for Mikan to stay there any longer. However, she still had a weird feeling about leaving him without saying another word.

When she arrived at the kitchen, Anna was already waiting for her. "Mikan, why did it take so long? Don't tell me that he already left."

Mikan panted heavily and pointed a finger at the hall. As she caught her breath, she explained: "No…he's waiting…for you…"

Anna's face took a worried expression. "Mikan, are you all right?" she wondered.

"Yes…don't worry about me. I'll be leaving now. The rest is up to you." replied Mikan and went to the staff room.

"Mikan?" called Anna doubtfully.

Mikan spun on her heels and winked. "Good luck!" After that, she disappeared from Anna's sight. When she got to the staff room, the first thing she did was to check her mails. The only thing she received was a text message from Hotaru, which said '_Mikan, I've got some important errands to run. We'll talk at school tomorrow. See you.'_

"Oh no, what now?" Mikan's disappointment could be read on her face. She was looking forward to talk to Hotaru this afternoon. Nevertheless, Hotaru wouldn't cancel their meeting without having a reason. So, Mikan had to wait another day to talk to her friend. After changing her clothes, she started back for home.

* * *

><p>"So it <em>was <em>really Sakura after all…" stated Ruka, looking out of the window.

Natsume took his cup of coffee and went out on the balcony. Since his hotel room was on the 20th floor, he could see a beautiful panorama of the town. "I still have no striking proof, but it has a lot to commend it. For example, the way how she's chuffed about candies…"

"But…" Ruka joined his friend to go for a blow. "Thinking about what you have told me about her, there are many aspects that contradict."

"I know. That's why I'll wait a little bit longer. There are too many things out of place here. And I'm not leaving until I find out the truth." Natsume ran a hand down his face and sighed.

"It's the migraines again, right? Didn't you eat properly today?" asked a worried Ruka.

"Not really." was Natsume's sole response.

Ruka looked at the cup in his hand. "You need to take care of yourself, Natsume. You won't get fit by only sipping that stuff in you. I'll fetch us some pudding." He went back into the room. Before he left, Ruka looked back at Natsume and asked: "Chocolate or strawberry?"

"I hate strawberries." murmured Natsume, wrinkling his nose.

"Sure, we both know why you hate them, right?" Ruka waved a hand and set off. "Actually, the red ones are quite tasty, but it's been your fault for feeding Aoi with them and eating the sour, pale ones yourself for her sake. Hence, you detest them now, right?"

When Ruka closed the door, Natsume was left behind in deep thoughts. "Not only for Aoi's sake…"

* * *

><p>Next chapter: <strong>The Truth behind His Eyes<strong>


	6. The Truth behind His Eyes

**Chapter 6: _The Truth behind His Eyes_**

It was a beautiful summer day with the sun giving of its heat and a light breeze kindly brushing against your skin. Mikan was sitting on her favourite spot at Alice High as every Monday morning: leaning against the giant Sakura tree, inhaling the fresh air, becoming one with nature. Some thought that she was sleeping with her eyes shut, her legs straightened and her hands resting on her laps. However, Mikan herself called it a kind of meditation to prepare herself for a difficult exam or a stressful week or a conversation with Hotaru. Many things had happened for the past two days, more than what had happened for the last ten years in her life. But for all that, she wanted to give thought to them later, when Hotaru arrived, and enjoyed the silence now. It was the perfect harmony for her as if she was in paradise: the rustle of the tree, the sound of the wind - it was so peaceful and calm…

"Kyaaaaaaaaaa!"

Mikan tore her eyes open and took a deep breath as if she was drowning and barely managing to reach the water surface. What was this noise early on Monday morning, when the majority was supposed to be half-sleepy? She looked at the direction where the skirl came from but could only see crowd getting bigger and bigger by any minute.

"Good morning." greeted a person, approaching from behind. Mikan couldn't identify the owner of that voice at once due to her temporal numbness thanks to the scream earlier. She leaned forward and turned her head to find Hotaru, who seemed to be in a stinking mood. She took a place next to Mikan and looked at the crowd in front of the school entrance.

"Good morning, Hotaru. How have you been?" smiled Mikan, ignoring the shrieks of the crowd for a moment.

"I should be the one asking." Hotaru answered coolly. "Are you even fit enough to go to school again?"

"Mhm." Mikan nodded approvingly. There was another shriek that changed her mind in a split second. "Well, I've been fine before I hit the road to school but those crazy girls make me sick again! What's up with them anyway?"

"They gassed something about a star." Hotaru commented dryly. In the meantime, she fished for her mini camera out of her bag and checked the settings. "We'll find out sooner or later."

Mikan saw a mysterious glance in her eyes and knew what would come next. "_Hotaru found a new victim to blackmail!" _she thought. "Just don't rip him off like Ruka…" she said, half-amused and half-serious.

"Speaking of Nogi…" Hotaru reminded her while working on her camera. "…what is it with that friend from France, Natsume Hyuuga?"

His name on its own made Mikan hold her breath. "Hmm… What shall I say? I don't remember quite well our first encounter at the station. When I opened my eyes at the hospital, he was just there… as if he has always been a part of my life." Hotaru stopped for a second and watched Mikan from the corner of her eyes. The latter looked at the sky and was in deep thoughts. She continued: "I can't tell you much about him since he's only a stranger to me…but the weird thing is that he seems to know me even better than myself."

There was a moment of silence before Hotaru asked: "Did you notice anything else about him, which was odd to you?"

Mikan turned her gaze to Hotaru. She didn't fairly understand the purpose of her question. "Anything odd…? No, there wasn't any…but wait! Now that you've mentioned… Something very strange happened yesterday!" She shifted and revolved to fully face Hotaru. "Yesterday, Hyuuga came to the café where I work coincidentally. Anyway, I found out that he doesn't like strawberries so I brought him to taste one of Anna's cupcakes. He said that it wasn't that bad after all." She left out the part with Anna's search of a boyfriend. Not till then, Mikan wondered whether the _'eat-my-cake-and-fall-for-me' _plan had worked. "_Will Hyuuga and Anna come holding hands today?" _she thought. At last, she knew that it was Hyuuga's first day of school today and she still hadn't seen neither Hyuuga nor Anna yet.

"So what?" Mikan was startled by Hotaru's words. She had a puzzled look and Hotaru repeated precisely: "Is it that weird to you that Hyuuga isn't a strawberry-fan?"

"No, it's not about his appetites or dislikes." Mikan explained excitedly. "The fact is… that I remembered."

"Remembered what?" asked Hotaru, arching a brow.

Smiling sadly, Mikan explained: "Don't you understand? That scene with the strawberries of yesterday, it happened once before…I'm pretty sure of it."

Hotaru's eyes opened wide and she put the gadget in her hands away. Then, she turned to Mikan and took her hands. "You… what exactly do you remember?"

Mikan closed her eyes and summed up: "There was a boy. No, not just a boy. It was _he. _I was eating strawberries with my childhood friend. His face was blurry though so I couldn't see it properly. Nevertheless, I know that it was _he_. And after eating the strawberries, he said the same line as Hyuuga yesterday: '_It's not bad after all.'_"

"Is there anything else you remember? Any tiny detail about him? The colour of his hair? Or his eyes?" persisted Hotaru.

"Unfortunately, I can only remember this much. No more, no less." Mikan opened her eyes and lowered her gaze.

"Cheer up, Mikan. Isn't that wonderful?" When Mikan looked up, she saw that Hotaru was smiling. "You were able to gain a part of your memories and that was only the beginning. I believe devoutly that you'll remember everything one day. You just have to wait a little bit longer."

Her last words encouraged Mikan anew and she gave Hotaru a quick embracement. "You're right. It's only a matter of time until I recollect everything."

Mikan was just about to add something before they went to their classroom. But she caught a glimpse of a pink haired girl running past the crowd towards the school building. "_Was that Anna?" _she wondered_. "But why is she crying? And why is she alone?" _From the other direction, Mr. Narumi was running towards the crowd and told the students to go to their classes immediately. Nobody dared to oppose Mr. Narumi since they feared his awkward way of punishments such as writing a love letter to him and reading it out in front of the whole class. For some others, it was mortifying enough to be seen with the 'paedophile' teacher.

Hotaru wondered about the source of her friend's curiosity and looked at the same direction. Slowly but surely, the students left one by one and only Mr. Narumi and three students were left on the spot. It didn't take Hotaru long to recognize the two boys and the green haired girl beside them. "Isn't that Nogi and his two French friends?"

"Now that you mention it… They _are _Ruka and Hyuuga. So this girl is the cat-like Sumire. And why is Hyuuga…" Mikan considered the facts: Hyuuga and Anna didn't come together to school? Anna was crying and ran away from him? There was only one meaning to this. "Hotaru, can you go ahead without me, please? I need to confirm something." She was just about to move when Hotaru got a hold of her hand and stopped her. Mikan turned on her heels and was surprised at Hotaru's expression: her face was as stoic as ever but her eyes; they looked somehow …regretful and apologetic. "Hotaru, is there anything else you want to say me?"

Hotaru closed her eyes and said: "Mikan, remember what I told you once. There is a reason behind everything. When the time comes, you need to give your counterpart the chance for a proper explanation. Never forget that." She took her bag and headed to the school building. On her way, she added: "By the way, you'll tell me the story of Umenomiya and Hyuuga later."

Mikan stiffened. She was at a loss for words and gulped heavily. "_H-How did she know…?" _She wiped her front off the drops of sweat and went off. Momentarily, she had to concern herself with other stuff. There could only be one reason to Anna's crying: "Hyuuga turned her down."

* * *

><p>It didn't take Mikan long to locate Hyuuga leaving the teachers' lounge. Fortunately, they were alone because she didn't want to involve Ruka or his friend Sumire to that. Besides, she knew how fast rumours could spread around and nobody needed to know how Anna was rejected by a <em>jerk<em>! Anna's miserable state came before Mikan's face and it filled her with rage. "Wait!" she shouted at the boy in front of her.

The latter jerked to a halt but didn't turn around. He was standing there nonchalantly with his hands in his pockets. "What do you want, _girl_?"

Mikan became more furious at how he addressed her. She gritted her teeth and asked. "You…what did you say to Anna?"

After hearing her question, he slowly turned around to face the girl behind him. Mikan was surprised to see him still wearing his sunglasses although they were already in the school building and it wasn't that bright to cover his eyes. However, she didn't change her expression and looked at him angrily.

Hyuuga observed her for a while before answering: "None of your business."

"Yeah, sure! It's none of my business how many girls you've already made cry but Anna is my friend and I won't allow you to trample on her feelings!" she hissed.

He stayed calm and explained. "Listen, I don't know what you expect to achieve by that but I only said that I'm not interested in her."

"Of course, you didn't say anything to hurt her." Mikan repeated wryly. "Then tell me, why is Anna still crying?"

"Perhaps, her pet died?" he suggested indifferently. "Nothing to do with me anyway." With that said, he turned away and walked off.

"I said wait!" she shouted one last time. She wanted to keep after him but there was a hand on her shoulder, which prevented her to run. Mikan turned her head to find her teacher by her side. "Mr. Narumi?"

Narumi was smiling as always and warned her gently: "Mikan, you can't just run around here and shout like a savage. It's so unladylike, honey."

Mikan was embarrassed and reddened. She dropped her gaze to the ground and tried to calm herself. "I'm sorry, Mr. Narumi."

"Accepted! Now, let's follow Natsume and return to class. We have a lot to do today." proposed Narumi.

"_I have an awful feeling this might happen: he's in the same class as me. This is going to be a very long day…" _she thought_._

* * *

><p>The students were abnormally loud today, especially Narumi's female students. Even if the bell had already rung, they could be heard through the whole schoolhouse. But that was about to change since the formidable teacher was returning to his post. He had to cut it out or Mr. Jinno would cut his head off! Narumi wandered his gaze from left, where Mikan was walking, to right, where Natsume sauntered. Both of them hadn't spoken for a while after he interrupted their hassle from before. "<em>What's possibly worse: the tension between them or JinJin's wrath?" <em>He decided to deal with the two brawlers later. Now, it was his highest priority to calm down his students to save himself Jinno's anger.

When the three of them entered the classroom, it became silent in a flash. The boys who were around Ruka's table, or rather the boys around Sumire, returned to their seats. Mikan set out for her seat, too. As she passed by the girls, she didn't miss their chatters or their jealous looks.

"Look, it's Sakura again."

"Why was she alongside Natsume?"

"Isn't Ruka enough for her?"

"Now, she also allures Natsume."

"How selfish!"

Mikan ignored their whispers and sat down next to Hotaru. The latter retrieved her camera and asked: "Was this the reason why you left earlier?"

"Yeah, I needed to talk to him as soon as possible." Mikan answered, with an upset face.

"Judging from your face, you didn't get an autograph." Hotaru concluded.

"Autograph? From Hyuuga?" Hotaru's words didn't make any sense to her. "Are we even talking about the same?"

Hearing her words, the whole class was shocked and turned to look at Mikan. Nonoko, who was sitting in front of her, leaned closer to her and whispered: "Mikan, don't tell me that you've never heard of Natsume Hyuuga." The girls started talking among each other again.

"What?"

"She really doesn't know the famous model Natsume Hyuuga?"

"Are you kidding me?"

"And this clueless girl hanged out with him the whole time?"

Mikan could effectually hide her astonishment. "So what if he's that popular? He's still a jerk in my eyes." She briefly looked at Hyuuga, who was still standing next to Narumi. "_So that was all the fuss about this morning…"_

With her last annotation, Mikan earned a lot of dark glares from the girls. It was even audible to the front of the class that Hyuuga lifted his head a little bit after hearing the last statement. Even if he wore his sunglasses, she could tell that Hyuuga was watching her with burning eyes.

Narumi clapped his hands and ended the heated discussion. "Okay, okay. Calm down, please, Ladies and Gentlemen. We still have to speak about your last homework and continue with our short story. So let's just finish this introduction quickly. Sumire, would you come here, please?" When Sumire stood next to Hyuuga, Narumi went on. "From now on, we will have two new students in our class. Natsume Hyuuga and Sumire Shouda both come from France and they want to attend school here in Japan. I'll leave them in your care so keep an eye on them."

The girls blushed deeply and giggled whereas the boys looked dreamily at the green-haired girl. Especially Koko laid his head on the desk and almost drooled. Mikan had a disgusted expression and looked around to find any sensible person around: only three people were looking normal (in their own ways) and didn't behave like an insane. One of them was Hotaru, who took pictures of Hyuuga without attracting attention. The second one was Ruka, who wouldn't absurdly fall for his own friends, right? And the third one was Anna, who still looked as sad as before. Therewith, Mikan knew what to do next.

* * *

><p>After Narumi's literature lesson, Mikan hurried to the lockers where she hoped to find Anna. That jerk Hyuuga didn't tell her the whole story after all so it was the best to talk to the other person. Before she told Hotaru what had happened at the café yesterday, Mikan needed to know the true story from Anna. Afterwards, they would ask Hotaru for help to take revenge on Hyuuga.<p>

At last, Mikan found Anna putting some books away. "Hey, Anna. I've been looking for you."

Anna lifted her head and tried to smile. "Oh, it's you, Mikan. I wanted to see you, too."

"Really? I'll do anything to help you." Mikan imagined to hit Hyuuga fair in the face and grinned at that thought.

"I only wanted to thank you for your help and give this to you." Anna handed a cute chocolate cake over to Mikan. "I'm sure that you can eat it all on your own."

"Eh? Why? I didn't deserve this. After all, our plan didn't work and he rejected you, didn't he?" Mikan didn't know understand why but she was rather happy about this than being worried for her friend.

"It's all right." Anna assured. "Now, I know that there's another girl he loves. He explained it in such a gentle way, kindly apologized and even praised my cooking. The fact is that I don't regret confessing to him. I feel so relieved now."

"Wait,… are we talking about the same guy?" Mikan was horror-stricken. "You aren't mad at him? But you were crying since this morning?"

Anna saddened again. "Yes. My little kitty was run over by a car yesterday. It was still too young to die, you know?" She began to cry again.

Mikan stood there agape. "_ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" _Then, Hyuuga was really telling the truth. Even the reason for Anna's mood, that her pet died, was correct. "I'm really sorry to hear that, Anna. I need to take care of something. Thanks for the cake." Without waiting for her to reply, Mikan started running. "I need to find him. Where are you, Hyuuga?"

* * *

><p>Mikan left the school building. She looked everywhere inside but didn't manage to find Hyuuga. He was neither with Ruka and Sumire nor in the classroom. On her way, she met other girls who were calling for his name, so she assumed that Hyuuga was hiding from his fan girls. She had to find him before they did. However, she was out of breath right now and her stomach growled. "<em>I need a break<em>." she thought. Thankfully, she brought Anna's cake along so she decided to go to her favourite spot to satisfy her hunger.

Reaching the giant Sakura tree, she sat down and opened the box. "Mmh, it must taste as good as it looks." Eating the whole cake wouldn't be a problem for her. She wanted to take her time and enjoy each bite of it. In case of need, she would talk to Hyuuga another day since they would see each other every day in school, wouldn't they?

"By only feeding off sweeties and cakes, you'll get really fat someday."

"Hm?" Mikan blinked in confusion. "Who was that?" She looked for the direction where the voice came from. There weren't any people around since lunch break was almost over. She also looked above at random and noticed the person sitting on the branches. Frightened to death, she wanted to scream but the other person was faster. He jumped down and pressed a hand against her mouth.

"Psst, they'll find us." Hyuuga whispered.

After calming down, Mikan roughly put his hand away. "Us? Why am I hiding, too, anyway?" she shrieked.

"Because you're dead meat when they see us together." he stated simply.

He was right. Mikan remembered their envious glares from before and gulped. Then, she looked at Hyuuga, who was scanning the schoolyard. "_So he was…trying to same me?" _At that thought, she blushed lightly and dropped her gaze.

Hyuuga sighed and leaned back. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to have lunch with your friends?"

"What about you? Aren't you hungry?" she observed him from the corner of her eyes. He stayed silent and didn't answer. She was at a loss and looked away. "Well,…I was looking for you." He still didn't show any reaction, thus Mikan went straight to the point. She took a deep breath and faced him. "Listen, I shouldn't have judged you before knowing the whole story. I'm really sorry and I'd do everything to make amends for it. I even brought a cake, you see? I hope you prefer chocolate to strawberries." Mikan smiled gently.

"You'd really do everything?" he repeated.

"To a certain extent." she nodded.

"Did Umenomiya bake it?" he asked, still lying on his spot.

"Sure. So if all of your questions are answered, would you please stand up and…?"

"Feed me."

Mikan blinked in confusion and blushed even more. "What?"

"It's not that you'll do it for the first time, right? Come on, hide-and-seek makes hungry." The expectant boy didn't shift but opened his mouth.

She gave in and took a small piece of cake. In the end, she promised him to do anything. She sighed. "I'm only doing this because I'm in your debt. But don't make a habit of it!"

After feeding Hyuuga, she also took a bite. While he was eating and smacking his lips, Mikan thought that he did it on purpose to pick on her. She could barely see a smug expression on his face but his sunglasses were covering almost half of it. "_Is he really enjoying the cake or is he rubbing my nose in his victory?" _Anyway_, _she had to satisfy her curiosity: "Hyuuga, may I ask you something?" He tilted his head to her side as a sign to go on. "I know that stars must often hide from the paparazzi and wear sunglasses but isn't it alright to take them off in school?"

"I'm wearing them because a certain naïve girl always faints when she looks into my eyes." he explained. "Or should I rather say: 'hypnotism'?"

"_Naïve? Hypnotism? I see, he's talking about Anna." _Mikan put the box aside and continued: "I think I know the girl who you're talking about. I'll just tell her to avoid eye contact with you. You know…" She looked briefly at him and turned away her gaze in embarrassment then. "…you have so beautiful eyes and hide them from other people…I think it's even unfair somehow."

He adjusted himself to a sitting position and wanted to say something when the bell rang. Mikan came back to reality and became aware of what she just said a minute ago. She was as red as a tomato and stood up. "Oh no! I… I…I'm sorry, I'm late." She ran away without considering the fact that Hyuuga also should get going. On her way to class, she was still agitated about her own words. "_What was I thinking? Saying things like that so sudden…Ad why won't my heart stop beating so fast?" _She managed to reach the classroom before Mr. Jinno arrived. She didn't say a word to Hotaru and just sat down. Ignoring the curious gazes of her classmates, she tried to calm down.

However, Hyuuga wasn't as lucky as she was and arrived shortly after Mr. Jinno. Mikan poked her nose into her book and didn't look up. Hearing the giggles and chatters of the girls, she knew that it was Hyuuga who just entered but she didn't dare to look at him.

The maths teacher, Mr. Jinno, was as strict as ever and frowned. "Mr. Hyuuga, if you're late from the very first, I'll be at a loss! Since it's your first day, I'll bend the rules. Now hurry up and sit down."

Hyuuga didn't bother to answer to him. Without saying a word, he quietly went to his seat next to Ruka. Instead of going straight to there, he made a little detour. Astonishing the other students, he went to Mikan's seat, stopped for a brief moment and headed to the last row, where Ruka was waiting.

He whispered something only audible to the girl hiding behind her book. "Better?" Mikan got frightened and put her book away. When she lifted her gaze, she saw something that she didn't expect. Hyuuga didn't wear his sunglasses anymore and revealed his crimson eyes. A faint shade of pink formed on her cheeks and all she could do was smiling shyly and nodding in agreement. She caught a glimpse of Hyuuga grinning complacently before he returned to his seat.

* * *

><p><em>I'm sorry for possible typing errors or grammar mistakes. It was really late (3 a.m.) when I wrote this chapter but I wanted to upload this asap, as I promised to <strong>LittleMissFirebug23 <strong>and **Saki-Hime**. Please, point to any mistakes you find and I'll correct them right away. I'm also waiting for your reviews... :)_

Next chapter: **The Truth behind Her Discovery**


	7. The Truth behind Her Discovery

**Chapter 7: _The Truth behind Her Discovery_**

"Me? Going out with you?" asked Mikan, taken aback.

"Yes, moving around Tokyo, a little bit sightseeing,…" proposed Ruka. "I'd like Natsume to come along but he has already refused. However, he might join us if you came, too."

Mikan blushed a little. "_He would come along if I came?" _she thought. Folding her arms, she turned away. "So you're only inviting me to persuade Hyuuga?"

"Wrong." stated Hotaru in her usual way. "Whose fault do you think it is that our last trip was cancelled?"

Mikan blinked twice and pointed a finger at herself. "Me?" she wondered. When she thought back, she remembered that they had planned to promenade last weekend. Owing to her, who had been lying in hospital, their trip had not taken place.

The three friends heard the door opening and turned their heads at the same time. It was Sumire, who entered the classroom, looking annoyed. "Jeez, I can't find him. I even had to ask that Koko to look into the boys' bathroom but he seem as if swallowed up by the earth." she complained. "Is Sakura coming along?"

"She hasn't agreed yet." replied Ruka.

"Well, you don't need to come along anyway." Sumire came nearer and linked arms with Ruka. She dreamily stared into space and imagined. "Ruka and I would have a placid evening together and then, at the top of the Tokyo Tower…"

There was a loud bang and Sumire was interrupted mid-sentence. When she turned her head to the source of it, she saw Hotaru, who thumped the table and stood up, with a grave expression. "Nogi still owes us one, so we're all going, including Hyuuga." Her words sounded more like a threat than an offer. "Furthermore, I don't want to keep your unearned money."

"U-unearned money?" Sumire asked confusedly after overcoming her shock. "What does Imai mean, Ruka?"

Mikan and Ruka knew only too well what Hotaru meant. "_Distracting the clingy cat_!" they thought. In order to change the topic, there was nothing else for Mikan but to agree to the trip. "Alright, I must change shifts with Anna first but that won't be a problem." she said in a cheerful tone. "_The biggest problem would be persuading Hyuuga…_" she thought afterwards.

"Mikan, go and ask Hyuuga while we three plan the trip." commanded Hotaru simply.

"Eh? W-why me?" stuttered Mikan. "I'd rather plan the trip with you…"

"Because you are a good deal better at playing hide-and-seek than me or Nogi." Hotaru reasoned. "Now go and find him until classes start."

Mikan didn't know whether to take her last remark as a compliment or not. Nevertheless, she didn't oppose her since the other two looked also affirmatively. "I don't mind but I can't assure you that he'll come." With that said, she ran off because there wasn't much time left.

Hotaru looked at her retreating figure and thought: "_He won't turn you down. I'll bet you_."

* * *

><p>It didn't take Mikan long to find Hyuuga. After Sumire had sifted through each single room in the schoolhouse, the only place left was outside. Thus, she set out for the Sakura tree. Arriving there, she looked up at the person sitting on the branches. "I knew it that I'd find you here…" she smiled, putting her hands behind her. Getting no answer exasperated her though, so she turned half away and scanned the schoolyard. "You don't need to hide anymore. Your fan girls have already gone to their classrooms."<p>

Hyuuga jumped down at lighting speed, which caused her a little fright, and stuffed his hands in his pockets as usually. Standing behind her, he explained: "Not hiding, I'm reposing."

Mikan didn't shift and replied without looking at him. "I guess being a model at this age is a stressful job although you may gain plenty of money."

"I'm not doing it because of the money. I've had a different reason from the outset." confessed Hyuuga. He sounded uneasy about this topic so Mikan didn't inquire anymore. After all, celebrities had their own private life and secrets.

"Anyway, you made the right decision to repose here." told Mikan, lifting her head and looking at the Sakura petals. "This is my favourite spot… a kind of refuge for me, which gives me a peace of mind. It may sound weird or crazy for you but…" Mikan smiled to herself. "…I feel like being a part of nature here. Ok, you can laugh at me if you want since it really sounds insane."

"Not at all." Hearing his comment, she looked briefly backward. She was surprised when she saw his calm face. "I know what you mean. The silence is fine."

Just by looking into his eyes, Mikan knew that he was really serious. Standing under the Sakura tree made her feel good, but sharing that beautiful atmosphere with another person who understood her warmed her heart up. She smiled and returned her gaze to the petals above her. "I've always thought that these petals deliver a feeling of contentment…or their scent to be more precise. Don't you think that it's the loveliest scent all over the world?" She took a deep breath to see for herself.

"No." Mikan's heart almost stopped when Hyuuga made a step forward and stood directly behind her. "I prefer the scent of tangerines to cherry blossoms." He leaned forward and inhaled deeply the scent of her hair. When he exhaled, his warm breath, which she felt on her neck, made her blood run cold. She stiffened and stood rooted to the ground. Feeling the heat arising on her cheeks, she thought: "_Why do I have this strange feeling again? What shall I do now? If I turn over now and meet his gaze, I won't be able to control myself…"_

Suddenly, Mikan heard the bell ringing and came back to reality. She moved a few steps away and sighed. "That was my resort." She whispered, resting her hand on her heart. Then, she remembered her class schedule and got a fright. "Oh no, JinJin's going to kill us." She turned over to the person behind her who somehow looked…_amused_. "What's so funny, Hyuuga? We must hurry up and return to class otherwise…"

"Isn't it too late anyway? That old dodderer would get mad anyway." Hyuuga replied nonchalantly.

Mikan flipped out at his words. She grabbed his hand in a flash and started running, tugging him along. "We won't know unless we give it a try, right? We can still manage it in time. Besides…" She squeezed his hand and ran even faster. "…I don't want you being late again…because of me." Neither did she see his face now, nor did she hear him answering. However, she felt him squeezing her hand, too, and they got their teeth into it.

After entering the school building, Hyuuga broke the silence. "Why were you looking for me primarily?"

Not till then, Mikan recollected the reason. She totally forgot to ask Hyuuga in the name of Ruka and the others. Instead of reproaching herself, she made it short and asked him on their way. "It was my duty…to persuade you…to attend the trip."

"Your 'duty'?" he asked sceptically.

"Yeah…but I wanted to plan the trip…together with the other two girls." she panted. "I wanted to go…to the amusement park…with everyone…so that we could love together…and forget all about our worries…"

Before she could continue, she noticed that they already reached the classroom. When she opened the door, Mikan saw that there was no sign of Mr. Jinno yet. She let out a relieved sigh and closed her eyes to catch her breath for a moment. Then, she heard the chatters of her classmates and reopened her eyes to meet 28 curious gazes darted on her. Looking around, she didn't quite understand what was wrong with them. Even Hotaru was somehow caught off guard and continuously watched Mikan. The whole class was mute and sat on their places besides Ruka, who stood up and looked afraid. "Natsume, are you alright?"

Now, Mikan understood what they were looking at. When the grip on her left hand loosened, she remembered the person beside her and turned toward him. Seeing Hyuuga's current state, her eyes widened horror-stricken: his face was pale and drenched in sweat while he was holding his chest with his free hand and panted heavily. She didn't know what happened to him so suddenly since he seemed to be healthy a minute ago. Before Mikan could open her mouth to ask, Hyuuga squeezed lightly her hand and shot her a reassuring glance. After calming himself and breathing normally, he stood up and answered simply: "I'll come." Thereafter, he slowly went to his seat and didn't say another word.

Mikan didn't quite understand what had happened a minute ago. But when she heard loud steps nearing the classroom, there was nothing else for her but to quietly return to her seat. Ignoring the other students, she only looked at Hotaru's inquiring face.

Mikan could somehow guess what was going on her mind and said only: "He'll come."

* * *

><p>After Mikan had changed shifts with Anna, she hurried to the station where she was supposed to meet the others. Arriving there, she saw that everybody was already waiting for her. "I'm sorry but I had to stop by the café and talk to Anna. She was even so kind and gave me some cookies along." she smiled.<p>

"So can we finally get on the train?" proposed Hotaru.

Before Mikan got in, she observed Hyuuga from the corner of her eyes. She was glad that he looked as usual and didn't seem to be sick. When she took a seat next to Hotaru, she asked: "So…where are we going anyway? What did you guys plan for this afternoon?"

"We're going to the amusement park." replied Hotaru.

"Really? That's great." Mikan was happy to hear that. "Cheer up, Hotaru. The amusement park means lots of fun and entertainment, so what are you so gloomy about?"

"We had planned to go to the museum and visit The Tower after eating at a noble restaurant. However, Hyuuga insisted on spending the whole day at the amusement park on short notice." Hotaru explained. "It's been troublesome to come to an agreement with Shouda though."

"_He insisted on going to the amusement park?" _wondered Mikan in awe. She remembered mentioning the amusement park this morning, too. _"He wouldn't…for my sake, right?"_ Mikan and Hotaru turned their gaze to the left side where the other three were sitting. Ruka held a plan of the amusement park in his hands and showed the sulking Sumire the different attractions whereas Hyuuga, disguised with a cap and his sunglasses, leaned back and seemed to be sleeping. Mikan looked away and satisfied herself. "_It's definitely a coincidence. He may want to go there from the beginning to avoid crowded places such as The Tower. In the end, people would be distracted by the rollercoaster to pay attention to a model…"_

"What are you waiting for?" asked Hotaru, who stood up and walked towards the door. Not till then, Mikan realized that they had already arrived. If she waited a second longer, she would miss the others. She also stood up and ran after Hotaru. Unfortunately, she tripped and almost fell down when somebody held her hand and pulled her out of the train in the nick of time. It was non other than Hyuuga, who lost his cap in the heat of the moment. After letting go of her hand, he made a step forward and said coolly: "We're even now."

He was just about to keep moving when Mikan stopped him. "Wait." Assuming that she was talking to him, Hyuuga came to a stop and turned over. As she met his gaze, she looked away and lightly blushed. "Th-thank you."

"So you _can _thank after all, can't you?" added Hyuuga teasingly and went on with a smug expression.

"Hmph!" She folded her arms and looked away. Actually, she would get mad and start arguing with him but she thought better of it and controlled herself. "I'll never understand that guy!" she thought aloud.

The other three just stood there in astonishment and thought: "_You're the one talking…_"

* * *

><p>"Yeah, it was a great fun, wasn't it?" shouted Mikan happily, running impatiently ahead and spinning around. "So what are we doing next?"<p>

"You sound like a kid, idiot." remarked Hotaru annoyed.

"Jeez, can't we have a break first? Or else, I'm going to puke here and now!" complained Sumire.

"What, you feel drained already? I could still tolerate another round." insisted Mikan.

"Then, how about going there next?" asked Hyuuga, pointing to the haunted mansion.

Mikan stiffened and was rooted to the spot. A sweat drop rolled down her cheek. "H-haunted mansion? You want to go there?"

Hyuuga succeeded in hitting the mark and pressed on. "Are you scared, _little girl_?" The last term precipitated a crisis in her head. Mikan clenched her fists and gritted her teeth whereas the other three noticed the sudden change of her mood. Hyuuga stopped in front of the entrance of the haunted mansion and looked behind his back at her. "Are you brave enough to follow me?" Without a second thought, Mikan went furiously after him and accepted his challenge.

"I guess we'll split up here." proposed Hotaru. "I'll go with Shouda and eat something. Nogi, you're coming with us."

Ruka sighed. "It's a case of Hobson's choice. Natsume, Sakura, where are we going to meet later?" He called out for them but they had already disappeared in the dark.

* * *

><p>"Respect, little girl. Keep on going." praised Hyuuga, only half-serious.<p>

"Impressive, huh?" replied Mikan, self-contented. "To be honest, it's my second time here. Thus, you can say that I'm experienced."

"You've come with your parents before?" he guessed.

"No…it was another person…long time ago." she answered, lost in thoughts.

"Probably, you screamed his ears off back then and I've been spared from it today. We really have to thank that person, little girl."

Mikan was fed up to the back teeth. She stooped and started yelling at him angrily. "Why won't you call me by my name? It's _Mi-kan Sa-ku-ra_." She stressed each syllable on purpose.

"I don't have to listen to that from _you_." he hissed back. "You're the one refusing to call me by my name."

"At least, I'm calling you by your second name. What's your problem with me calling you '_Hyuuga' _anyway?" she questioned.

"I hate it!" he shouted in such a way that his voice echoed. The sudden rise of his voice startled her. It was the first time she heard him shouting and she could barely swallow the lump in her throat. He might have noticed this since he repeated more softly. "I just have a problem with my family, that's all." Mikan nodded quietly and they continued their way.

After a while, she said: "So that's what he's worrying about."

"What was that?" asked Hyuuga.

Mikan pressed her hand against her mouth and couldn't believe what she just said. "D-did I s-say that out loud?" she stammered.

"You…you've already said something like this twice. Back then, when we ate Umenomiya's cake at the café and also this morning…" he recollected. "What makes you think that I'm _worried_?"

"Well,…" She didn't know how to put it into words. "Hotaru told me once that no matter how hard you try to hide your feelings, you're eyes will sell you out. Even if you seem to have a strong and tough personality, there's also this…thoughtful and caring side of you. Otherwise, you wouldn't have escorted me to the hospital, right?" Mikan was glad that they stood in the dark, which covered her red face, right now. She finally found the chance to thank him for his help when she felt something slimy on her leg. "Kyaaaa!" It scared her to such an extent that she jumped into his arms and looped hers around his neck.

Hyuuga lost his balance for a moment but he managed to stand still. "Speaking of the hospital…" he mentioned while Mikan tried to calm down. "…I won't always carry you around like this, so don't get used to it." He sounded more amused than annoyed.

"Just stop talking and bring me out of here, pleeeease!" she shrieked and buried her face on his shoulder. Henceforward, she didn't utter one word.

"Hey, do you feel comfortable there?" Mikan didn't know what Hyuuga meant with that. When she lifted her head, she noticed that the sun had already started to go down. "You're not as lightweight as you look, you know…" When she heard his voice again, she turned her head to the other direction and met his ruby eyes. It was not until then that she remembered being in his arms yet.

Mikan deeply blushed when she slowly got off and bowed her head. "I-…I'm really sorry!"

"Come on, let's find the others. You must be starving right now." He went ahead, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"_How did he know that again?" _she wondered, following him obediently. "I start to believe that you can really read my mind…" She had to nearly run to keep pace with him.

"I only have good ears, that's all." he said simply.

* * *

><p>As assumed, they found Ruka's group at the snack bar. While Ruka was paying the bill over the counter, Hotaru sipped her drink at the table and Sumire was talking to a pretty boy a few metres away. "<em>So that's her 'clingy cat attitude'<em>…" Mikan thought when they went to Ruka's side to order something, too.

"Ah, there you are." Ruka was glad that both of them seemed to be…_fine_. Seriously, he expected them to be in the heat of a cat-and-dog fight. "Sakura, Imai was so kind and bought you some hamburgers."

"Yeah!" Mikan beamed and rejoiced as a small child.

"Go ahead before you drool." Natsume commented dryly.

A vein popped out of her head and she stuck her tongue out at him. "Be sure that I won't wait for you, _jerk_!" With that said, she walked frustrated to Hotaru.

Ruka shot a brief glance at his friend and smiled. "You'll never change, will you?"

"In which way?"

"Instead of 'before you drool', you should have said 'you don't need to wait for me' or something like that." informed Ruka. "This brings back memories though. Seeing how you treat her reminds me of your relationship with your sister…or how you treated me when we first met."

Natsume showed a rare, brief smile as Ruka mentioned their past. "Perhaps, it'd be the best to return to those old days, right? Living like a child, without considering the consequences of your actions, without any fears and worries about the future…"

Thinking one step ahead, Ruka had a bad feeling about this. "You mean…"

"Yes." Natsume looked at the table where the carefree brunette sat with her friend. "Only this time, I'll act selfish without thinking about consequences. I'll tell her at the top of the Ferris wheel. At least, she will be forced to listen to me until the end."

"Rukaaaa, are we finally going to the Ferris wheel?" shrieked Sumire, running towards the two guys.

They winced at her shrill yelling. Mikan and Hotaru heard it, too, and joined the three of them. "So, what do we do next?" asked Mikan, bursting with energy.

"Weren't you mad three minutes ago?" wondered Natsume, surprised by her sudden change of mood.

Mikan wagged her finger at him. "Well, food works wonders! Sorry, but even _you _can't spoil my humour right now." She went up to Sumire and linked arms with her. They both started humming cheerfully. "Ferris wheel, Ferris wheel, we're finally going to the Ferris wheel!"

"Wait." Hotaru's firm command made everyone look at her. "We'll have a break before we go to the Ferris wheel. You should go to the toilet, Mikan, since you've drunk a large bottle of Coke."

Taken aback, Mikan reddened deeply. "D-don't treat me like a little child, Hotaru!"

"Tsk, I don't want to hear that you need to pee at 100 metres in height." Natsume frowned.

Hearing his comment, Mikan blushed more and gritted her teeth. "Hy-u-ga!"

Sumire managed to calm her down before Mikan freaked out. "Come on, Sakura. I need to freshen up my make-up anyway."

Mikan rolled her eyes. "I'm only escorting Sumire so don't get the wrong idea!" she hissed angrily.

"Nogi, go with them." Ruka blinked in confusion as Hotaru continued. "I don't want them to dawdle for hours." He didn't know why Hotaru made a fuss about it because they still had plenty of time to spend there. However, she glared at him dangerously, thus he didn't dare to ask about the reason. He nodded quietly and followed the two girls.

After they were out of sight, Natsume turned over and faced Hotaru with a cold expression. "So you succeeded in separating me from Ruka. What do you want?"

Hotaru wasn't impressed at all. She could also tell that the same went for him. This guy was different from the others, actually an equal opponent. Not only that he wasn't intimidated by her; Natsume Hyuuga was a mystery, which she couldn't unravel yet. She observed him from tip to toe and darted her eyes on his. "You want me to come straight to the point? Fine with me. I know that you're Mikan's childhood friend."

There was a moment of silence. Neither Hotaru, nor Natsume turned their gazes from each other. She would be only too pleased to know what he was thinking. After a while, Natsume arched a brow and looked at her sceptically. "So what? Since you haven't already told her, I assume that you have a reason for this."

"I've waited for you to spit it out." she answered with a stoic face.

"Then you won't have to wait any longer. I'll tell her today." He turned away and was just about to go when her next words stopped him.

"I can't allow that."

This time, she could tell that he was surprised. Even if he tried to hide it, she caught a glimpse of insecurity in his eyes. "Pardon?" he asked, as if he didn't get it right.

With a determined expression, she repeated: "I will bar you from revealing your true identity to Mikan, by any means!"

* * *

><p><em>I'll tell you beforehand that it'll take at least two weeks for the next chapter. I'm moving from home this weekend and university will start next week, which will keep me busy for a while. Thanking you in anticipation for your patience... and reviews!<em>

Next chapter: **The Truth behind Her Motive**


	8. The Truth behind Her Motive

**Chapter 8: _The Truth behind Her Motive_**

"You heard it: I won't let you tell Mikan who you really are." Hotaru repeated. "Not before you listen to what I have to say…"

She observed the person in front of her and steeled herself for any reaction of him: be it aggression or violence. Actually, she would be able to handle those types of people but Hyuuga was different. He just stood there straight-faced, as calm as Hotaru herself. Thus, Hotaru got the short end of the stick since she had no experience in dealing with people like her.

Hyuuga was immeasurable.

He had an odd expression on face. He didn't look…angry…or surprised. He rather seemed to look down on her. It was a mischievous look that she didn't like.

Since the long waiting didn't help on and it was a waste of her precious time, she decided to break the silence. She was just about to say something when Hyuuga noticed this and reacted faster. He turned away and wanted to go to show his lack of interest in this conversation. Nevertheless, Hotaru wasn't finished yet.

"I mean it, Hyuuga!" she became louder. "You better take me serious and listen to me." Her words sounded more like a threat than a warning and it was enough to make him stop on his heels. Hotaru didn't know what she expected him to do but she was surprised at what he did next. He… burst out laughing. However, it was a sardonic laugh.

"I didn't get the joke." Hotaru stated monotonously and wryly, arching a brow.

He calmed himself down again. Then, he shot a dark glare at her which took her breath away. Never before had she seen such menacing eyes. They burned with fury. One wrong word now and he was ready to explode. "You're the only joke here. Who are _you_ to tell mewhat I'm supposed to do?"

In spite of that, Hotaru stayed calm and tried to hide her awe. She started to explain slowly and in a cautious tone. "You're right. Neither do _you_ know me, nor do _I_ know you. But if you really _are_ Mikan's friend from back then, I know more than enough about you." Hyuuga's glare became even darker, if possible. In addition, I know stuff about Mikan that even _you_ don't know. She…"

Before Hotaru could continue, Hyuuga interrupted her. She didn't really know what happened but all she could feel was his strong grip on her neck. She was having difficulties breathing properly. When she could barely open her eyes, she could see his fiery eyes at close distance. He was so in a rage that his hand on her neck punctiliously burned.

"You damn bitch! Are you trying to lure me by using her? Was it Kuonji who sent you to spy on me?" he shouted.

Hotaru had no idea what he was talking. Bearing down the pain on her neck, she tried to answer. "No… I'm only trying… to help Mikan." The bare mention of Mikan's name made him loosen his grip a little bit. "Listen, Hyuuga… I can understand you that you don't trust me… because I also felt the same way about you first. I see that I can't force you to act against your own wishes, too, but keep just one thing in mind…" Her hand wandered to her pocket and she pointed the metallic item at him. With a determined expression, she finished her sentence. "Do whatever you want but if Mikan is the one who'll get hurt in the end, I'll make _you_ pay and give you hell. I swear that!"

Hyuuga's gaze wandered to her right hand below where Hotaru held her hidden gun. It wasn't just a bluff and she was dead serious. Mikan's safety was her highest priority.

His hand slid down and he backed off. First, Hotaru assumed that she was able to frighten him but she was wrong. This time, she couldn't hide her surprise as Hyuuga started quietly laughing again, even bitterer and icier than before.

When Hyuuga walked off without saying a word but still laughing, Hotaru lost her temper and yelled. "What's so funny?"

He stopped on his way and repeated. "You'll give me hell? No need." He turned over one last time and revealed his blazing eyes. He finished in an emotionless tone. "I've been living there for the last eleven years!"

* * *

><p>"Jeez, is that permy-haired friend of yours always like that? I can't believe that it took us so long to go to the toilet!" Mikan pouted.<p>

Ruka smiled at her. "I'm afraid that you can't change that fact unless she gets a boyfriend."

"Then, she'll have to wait another five years at least." she laughed. "Joking aside, Per… Sumire seems to be a good girl. Didn't one of you think about dating her?" Mikan hoped that Ruka didn't get her real purpose by asking that question.

"Well, for my case, I've never intended to have that kind of relationship with Shouda. But I've also never turned her down, you know." Ruka explained honestly.

"Sure, I guess you're too gentle to break a girl's heart." she smiled.

Ruka blushed a little. "Thanks for the compliment. I could say the same about you. In the end, it took you months to turn _me_ down, remember?" Ruka reminded jokingly.

She blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?" She looked away and reddened a little. "I've always liked you as a good friend and didn't want to give you false hopes. So I decided to talk to you as soon as I realized your true feelings."

"My _past_ true feelings." Ruka corrected her instantly.

"Oops, I'm sorry." Mikan grinned childishly. "Anyway, it was Hotaru who told me and I wanted to confirm it myself first. And it was the next day afterwards that you confessed me…"

"I-Imai told you?" Ruka's blush deepened. He was stunned and thought. "_The whole school knew about it besides the girl in question? Poor Nats…_"

"Let's drop that topic already!" Mikan barged in and shook her head. "You weren't finished about Sumire yet, were you?" she asked impatiently, waiting for the part which interested her most.

"Oh yeah…" Ruka continued. "Like I said, Shouda and I were never like that. As for Natsume, it was a little bit complicated. He…"

As Ruka stopped mid-sentence, Mikan's disappointment was written on her face. Otherwise, it also irritated her that Ruka just stood rooted to the ground thunderstruck. "Ruka, what's the matter?" she asked before looking at the same direction as him.

There were their two best friends standing on the same spot as before. Hyuuga was about to leave for the other direction while Hotaru was watching him, rubbing her neck at the same time. The newcomers didn't know what had happened there a while ago. However, they didn't miss the cold atmosphere. A high tension made it hard to breath.

Mikan glanced at Ruka beside her who seemed somehow too… _horrified_ to say something. Then, she turned her gaze back to Hyuuga whose retreating figure was becoming smaller and smaller, disappearing into the dark park.

Suddenly, Mikan felt a sting arching her heart. It was a long forgotten pain that she had felt eleven years ago for the first time. Now, the same feeling came back out of the blue and made her scream one name. "Natsume!"

The three other people held their breaths at once. Especially the furthest person, who was just about to leave, stood there without turning around as if he didn't hear right. As for the other two, Ruka and Hotaru watched Mikan with a puzzled expression. They wondered how it came that Mikan, who refused to call that guy by his first name all along, let it out so freely now.

Ruka opened his mouth to say something but Hotaru was fast enough to interrupt him with a warning glare. Therefore, Ruka decided to follow suit and waited for the outcome of this conversation.

"Natsume…" Mikan murmured quietly but still audible to Hyuuga. "Don't leave me…again…"

When the person in question finally turned over to reply her, he was distressed by seeing Mikan's face as white as sheet. A tear slowly rolled down her right cheek, as she was just about to collapse. Feeling dizzy, her knees began to sink when a strong grip caught her upper arm fast. She got aware of the slight pressure on her arm and tore her eyes widely open while standing by herself now. "What…"

Quickly, Hotaru and Hyuuga hurried to her side. After Mikan caught a glimpse of their worried expressions, she tried to smile a little. "H-Hyuuga, were you leaving without riding on the Ferris wheel?"

Hyuuga's face returned slowly to its usual calm facade. The fact, that Mikan called him by his last name, meant that everything went back to normal like a few days ago. He turned away from the rest of the group and walked to the direction this time, where Mikan and Ruka came from. He turned his head back for a moment and shot her a reassuring look. "I won't leave." was his sole but solemn answer.

Mikan didn't know why but she felt relieved as never before. She could detect that mysterious glow in his eyes even in such a dull light. His burning, dark red eyes were enough to convince her. Nevertheless, his last words rather sounded like a lifelong promise that made her lips curve to a lovely smile. It was one of her honest smiles that Hotaru mentioned earlier, which made her eyes gleam brightly with happiness.

"Are you alright, Sakura?" she heard Ruka beside her, asking in concern. Mikan turned her head to him and nodded approvingly. That made the blonde boy sigh in relieve and smile at her shyly.

"Ruka, let's go." The three people turned their gazes to Hyuuga who stood several meters away from them. Ruka gave him a questioning look as Hyuuga put his hands to his pockets and started walking off lazily. "We still need to find Shouda."

Ruka understood instantly and stood up. He turned to the girls and told them to go ahead. "Let's meet at the Ferris wheel in half an hour then." With that said, he joined his friend and departed from the other two.

Hotaru, who was silent for a while, offered Mikan some water. The latter accepted thankfully and told her cheerfully. "Hotaru, I remembered something. I've been here with _him_ before."

Nodding briefly, Hotaru smiled and wasn't surprised to hear that. Slowly but surely, she was finding a way to help Mikan regaining her memories.

* * *

><p>"Natsume, are you alright? What happened between you and Imai earlier?" asked Ruka. They've been walking quite a while now and his friend didn't open his mouth up yet.<p>

The latter stopped suddenly and stared into space. "Ruka… what do you know about her?"

Ruka blinked in confusion. "Imai? Well,… she is Sakura's best friend. They've known each other for three years now. However, they weren't that close when I entered Alice High first…"

"So she is a trustworthy person?"

"Hmm…" Ruka reflected on it for a second. "Let me tell you just one thing: _if_ there is a person whom Sakura would confide, that would be Hotaru Imai."

* * *

><p>Later, the two boys returned with Shouda and met the rest of the group at the Ferris wheel. Shouda was in a bad mood though because she was turned down three times within an hour now.<p>

"What are we going to do now?" Mikan exclaimed desperately. "Only four people can enter a gondola and we are a group of five. So one person will be left over…"

"Wow, what a genius you are." Hyuuga commented dryly, which made Mikan furious.

"Hmph, you know what? You can as well as ride on yourself; I don't care! But there's no way that _I'll_ be riding on my own." She urged into the gondola and pouted, folding her arms and looking out of the window.

"You can go ahead. I'll be waiting… whoa!" Hyuuga just wanted to leave when Ruka shoved him in the gondola hastily and closed the door. It was too late for the passengers to get out now. Both of them looked at Ruka and protested.

Ruka waved his hand at them and grinned. "We can also form groups of two and three people. This way, nobody has to ride alone…"

Mikan knocked on the window. "But why has it to be me and that _jerk_? I wanted to ride with Hotaru!"

Ruka pretended not to hear them and got in the next but one gondola. Whereas Shouda was delighted to ride with Ruka and clung to his arm, he earned an angry look from Hotaru. Of course, he didn't know the cause of her anger.

Before getting in, she looked at the first gondola with Mikan and Hyuuga in it for a last time. "_What will you do now, Hyuuga?"_

* * *

><p>Something was wrong!<p>

Mikan didn't even know Hyuuga for a week now but she somehow learned how he ticked yet. He said first one thing then another. However, the person in front of her now was vacantly glazing like a lifeless body as he stared out of the window. She was glad that he didn't annoy her with his stupid remarks although his silent state made her worry, too. "_Is he ill_?" she wondered.

"I'm fine."

"Eh?" Mikan shrieked. "_Can he read my mind_?"

"Knowing you, you probably think that I'm afflicted with a sick headache or something like that right now…" he guessed moonily.

She arched a brow, asking skeptically. "You're talking as if you know me for ages now…"

"What about you?" Mikan shivered as he turned his crimson eyes to her. "You're behaving as if I'm a total stranger."

His words astounded her. On the one hand, she didn't expect such a comment all of a sudden. On the other hand, did she really behave that cold and distanced to him? Sure, they _were_ strangers. There again, she remembered her own words. _"Ruka's friends are my friends, too, right?" _What was Hyuuga really for her?

She had misjudged him that he had broken Anna's heart. However, he never scolded her once for that. He also helped her a few times. He brought her to the hospital. He also carried her out of the haunted mansion earlier. And the most important was that this guy had something she was seeking for so long. When he was by her side, she just felt… secure.

Mikan tilted her head that her brunette bangs covered her eyes. "You… remind me of someone." she whispered.

"Of whom?"

She felt his gaze on her but she refused any eye contact. "A friend of mine."

They were silent until the wheel made half a turn. He didn't turn his gaze from her for a second whereas Mikan still looked on the ground. She still wondered how they ended in this conversation. Even stranger for her was the fact that she brought her childhood friend up. Why did she mention _him_ now?

His next question made her hold her breath. "Would you like to see him again?"

"Yes!" she replied in an instant. Her scream resounded lightly in the gondola while the noises from other attractions outside were almost inaudible for them. When Mikan finally decided to face him, she noticed how little the distance between them was. He was leaning forward that she could even feel the warmth of his breath on her skin. There was that mysterious glint in his eyes again. His eyes with the lovely red color that looked exhausted at the same time now. No matter what he was going to say now, it would make her heart beat faster to the extent of exploding like a volcano erupting unexpectedly.

"Mikan, I…"

Suddenly, the machine stopped abruptly and made the occupants panic. Mikan screamed as Hyuuga wrapped his arms around her to calm her down. When she opened her eyes, it was pitch-black in the gondola but she could still see some lights from outside. "A blackout?" she thought loudly, still hanging on to his arms.

"_Damn_!" Hyuuga cursed lowly. "Why has it to be now?" He looked out of the window and saw that they were still less than twenty meters above earth's surface.

"_Dear Ladies and Gentlemen_!" There was an announcement through the speakers. _"We have a technical problem which will be solved as quickly as possible. Please keep calm and don't exit the gondola."_

Hyuuga leaned back and checked on the girl in his arms. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I've had better days though…" she rubbed slightly her head. He helped her getting up and they looked out of the window. Unfortunately, they didn't know in which gondola their other three friends were. Mikan looked down at the commotion below when something caught her eye. "Look… can you see that, too?" she pointed a finger to a certain direction.

It didn't take Hyuuga long to find what she meant. A darksome man was kidnapping a little boy with grey hair. Mikan opened her eyes widely as she recognized the kid immediately.

"Youichi!" Horror-stricken, she pressed her hands against her mouth.

"You know him?"

Mikan nodded. "He's the child of my neighbors. I've been babysitting him at times." She explained with a whiny voice, tears already building up in her eyes.

Hyuuga gritted his teeth and looked out of the window again. The police had already surrounded the kidnapper but the latter had the edge over them since he had a hostage. In order that he didn't lose any more time, he had to do something urgently.

He grabbed Mikan by her shoulders and gave her a reassuring look. "You'll wait here." Before she could even ask what he wanted to do, he jumped and reached the emergency exit. "And don't you dare following me, you little girl."

"Wait! Nats…" The only thing she could do was looking after him as he artistically climbed up the iron rods and got to the ladder.

Hyuuga reached the place of the spectacle within five minutes. About ten police officers were trying to arrest the kidnapper who was menacing the child with a knife. The cry of the boy attracted more and more people as the crowd became larger. The officers tried to hold them back while another one was talking to the kidnapper.

"I'm telling you to let the child go and give up! You can't get out of her!" he warned.

"Kehehe, I don't think so!" The evil man replied. "As long as I have my hostage, you won't get me! So back off or this brat will die!"

The kidnapper laughed mischievously because the officers' hands were tied. They slowly but hesitatingly made a step back as a grin formed slowly on his face.

"You wimp!"

The kidnapper looked at the source of the voice and stopped his eyes on Hyuuga. "What was that, you little punk?"

"Trying to use an innocent child. How deep have criminals fallen lately? And you're calling yourself a man?" he asked with a bored expression.

"Hey, young man. You're only provoking him. Who allowed you to step forward anyway?" an officer tried to stop him.

"Don't worry, officer. I've studied practical psychology in France. I know what I'm doing." he whispered. His grimly looking eyes were enough to convince the officer. He gulped heavily and deferred to Hyuuga.

When he advanced two steps, the kidnapper made a step back and took the gloves off. "Stop right there! Or do you want me to chop the brat's head off?" He pushed the knife to the child's neck and made him cry even more. "SHUT UP, BRAT!" The nerved kidnapper shouted.

"Youichi!"

Hyuuga was surprised to hear Mikan's voice. He ran a hand over his face. "You idiot! Didn't I tell you to wait for me?" he yelled at her, making one step further towards the kidnapper.

"N-… Hyuuga, wait! It's dangerous!" Mikan cried.

The officers tried to hold her back. "Miss, you can't go there!"

"H-Hyuuga?" The kidnapper asked in surprise. "You're a _Hyuuga_?"

The people around started talking among each other and so did the police officers. Mikan didn't quite understand what was going on. But her only concern right now was the child in danger. "Youichi…" she cried.

"Let him go!" Hyuuga interfered again. "If you're man enough, then let him go and come right to me!"

The kidnapper hesitated a little bit. Then, he grinned. "Kehehe, fine with me! Guess your head brings me more money than this useless brat!"

"No…Hyuuga!" Mikan cried.

"Stay back!" he shouted. "You, too, officer! Put your guns down and let me handle him!"

"Are you crazy?" The officer became furious. "As if I'd allow something like that! Whom are you trying to prove something, you…"

"Officer!" Mikan clung to his arm. "Please… trust him…" The officer stared into her eyes. Even if they were filled with tears and a hint of fear lied quiet in them, she looked determinedly. He was impressed how much she kept faith with Hyuuga.

The officer let out a low grunt. Gritting his teeth, he hesitated for a moment but then, ordered his men to put their guns down.

Hyuuga turned around and showed his gratitude with a nod. As he faced Mikan, he shot her a reassuring look and smiled briefly. She, too, smiled back at him although he couldn't hold back her tears.

By the time he turned over to the kidnapper, he approached glowering at him. It seemed that his frown got darker and darker by each step. Now, he stood directly in front of the kidnapper. "It's only you and me from now on. So let the child go!" he said in a menacing tone.

The kidnapper was conscious of the danger. The young man in front of him was not even an adult, a haughty teenager in his eyes. Anyhow, he had a threatening aura which frightened the kidnapper so that he wanted to play safe. He grinned evilly and yelled. "As if, you fool!"

He pushed the boy aside and attacked Hyuuga, which made the crowd scream in horror. Hyuuga moved back a step and caught the blade of the knife with his right hand. The kidnapper, who didn't expect that, froze and didn't know what to do next.

Hyuuga took advantage of the confusion. With a twirl of his leg, he kicked the knife in his hand and punched him with his left. The kidnapper landed on the ground and was disarmed. Nevertheless, Hyuuga wasn't finished yet. He grabbed the man on the ground by his collar and glared at him coldly.

"What are you going to do now?" Hyuuga punched him again. "You're all the same!" And again. "You only assault little children and give a shit about their families and lives!" The officers came to his side and held him up. Currently, it seemed like Hyuuga was the real criminal with a murderous aura there. Catching her breath, he finally went away while the kidnapper was lying half-consciously on the ground and curling in fear.

Mikan ran towards them. The officers took the criminal away and one of them was taking care of Youichi. As soon as the little boy saw her familiar face, he ran into her eyes and sobbed. She hugged him tightly and patted on his head. "It's alright. You're safe now, Youichi."

Then, she looked at Hyuuga, who was avoiding any eye contact for the moment. He was just like his usual self, standing there nonchalantly with his hands in his pockets. Mikan was still stunned by seeing the Hyuuga from five minutes ago that his sudden change in character made her blood run cold.

Anyway, it was still the same Hyuuga. That was just another side of him which Mikan got to see today. Even if she experienced that unpleasant side of him, it was thanks to Hyuuga that Youichi could be saved in the end.

After Youichi calmed down, Mikan stood up and went to Hyuuga's side. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah."

Mikan got furious at his plain answer. With a quick movement, she surprised Hyuuga and grabbed his right wrist. He was about to scold her but when he saw her crying, he thought better of it and stayed silent.

"Is this what you call 'alright'? We need to take care of your wound." she shouted as her tears continued rolling down her cheeks.

Right on cue, two doctors came to them. One of them was taking checking on Youichi while the other one was talking to the other two. "Mr. Hyuuga, right? Please, come to the ambulance so that we can see about your wound."

Before he could go, Mikan didn't let go of his hand and added one last thing. "Anyway,…" she lifted her head and smiled weakly. "I'm so glad… that you didn't get a worse injury."

* * *

><p>After the incident, Ruka, Hotaru and Shouda showed up in relieve. They couldn't find Mikan and Hyuuga in their gondola back then and had a suspicion that something bad had happened. Hyuuga refused to go to the hospital so that the doctors had to stitch his wound on location.<p>

He told Ruka to escort the other two girls to their homes while he and Mikan had to go to the police station and give a witness report.

"You didn't need to come along with me. You should rather return to your hotel and rest." Mikan suggested.

"I've already told you that I'm fine. You don't need to worry." he affirmed for the umpteenth time.

"_How could I not worry…?" _she thought.

Lastly, they arrived at her house. It was a small but simple apartment, just enough for her mother and her.

"Would you like to come for a cup of tea? Or if you don't feel well, you can also spend the night at my house…" she proposed.

"Thanks, but maybe another time."

"No, I should be the one thanking. For escorting me home, for saving Youichi and for coming along to the amusement park. Although I didn't expect it to end this way, I had a nice time." She kissed him swiftly on his cheek and started running to the door. She felt the heat coming up to her cheeks and was glad that the darkness hid the faint blush on her face.

It was not until then that Mikan and Hyuuga noticed the person at the door. Mikan recognized that it was none other than her mother who just stood there without saying a word.

"Mum…" she whispered in surprise and wondered for how long she was already standing there. "Uhm, I want to introduce Hyuuga to you. He's a new friend of mine and accompanied me back."

"Hyuuga?" Her mother Yuka repeated suspiciously. She was stunned and somehow looked like… _frightened to death_.

"Y-yes. His name is…"

"Natsume Hyuuga." Hyuuga finished her sentence in a monotonous tone. "Pleased to meet you, ma'am."

Yuka gulped heavily and a sweat drop rolled down her cheek. Mikan noticed that her mother behaved anxiously and started worrying. "Mum… are you…"

"Mikan, please get in. We'll talk inside." Yuka cut her off. Then, she turned to Hyuuga and slightly bowed her head. "Thanks for escorting my daughter." After that, she shoved Mikan in the house and stepped inside without saying another word.

Hyuuga didn't seem to be surprised at all. He left the place right away but he didn't head for his hotel. Instead, he fetched his phone and sent a message to his best friend.

"_Ruka, I need you to give me Medusa's number."_

* * *

><p><em>I hope that you haven't forgotten about this story. ^_^" And I hope that you don't hate me for making you wait so long. That's why I decided to write a longer chapter this time...<em>

_Unfortunately, I'll have study weeks from now on so it could take several weeks for the next update. I'm thanking you in anticipation for your patience, dear readers._

_~Illusion137_

Next chapter: **The Truth behind His Illness**


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